The Soul Ruby
by Moctheusername
Summary: Ruby, to all who meet her, is a bit cold and emotionless. They also say her scythe seems odd. Especially since the eye on it seems to follow them when they move...
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

**Hello. Late at night inpiration, strike me now! The intial inspiration came a bit after I seen the first episode of Soul Eater, because immediately I thought to myself while watching it **_**What would it be like if Ruby had a scythe like this?**_

**You don't want to hear me ramble, I know, I know. I would like to quickly say though that in this story Yang is not Ruby's sister, and therefore not related to Qrow as well.**

**FlamingGinger06, you introduced me to Soul Eater. Therefore, in a way, this story is for you.**

**P.S. The reviews for The Swordsman will be in chapter two of it. **

_Tap, clonk, tap, clonk._ In the late night, when the city was dark and the shadows came out, someone walked upon the cobblestone tiles in the alleys, silent under the full moon.

Head ducked low this figure silently blended into the shadows, despite the bright red hood the figure was wearing and the massice scythe hanging on the person's back.

For a moment the figure crossed under a streetlight. In that brief moment her appearance became visible to the world.

As mentioned she was wearing a red hood, but unlike what most would expect, which would have been a lining matching the exterior, the lining was of a dull whitish color. Inside the hood a suprisingly young face could be seen, a girl no older than 15. Her hair was black, highlighted in the front in red, with a few white bands mixed in. Her grey eyes were cold and calculating, always observing, always watching.

Underneath the cloak she wore a little armor, white shoulder pauldrons with a small attaching chest plate below them. Etched into the chestplate was a stylized rose engraved in black. She wore a black corset tied with red string underneath, a white shirt under it all. In addition she wore a white belt with a black buckle hanging around her hips. It held up a black skirt lined with red. Her stockings were white as contrast, and if one looked closely they could see two solid black holsters tied around the top of the stockings. To top it all off (or should it be to bottom it all off?) she wore black boots made of sturdy leather that went a bit past her ankles, with the tips of red socks poking out of them.

To anyone observing at that moment, they would have thought she looked equiped and ready for anything. That wasn't taking in account the black sheath with red dots going down in a line hidden on her back. The cloak concealed it very well. But no one was observing her, so no one thought that.

Her outfit seemed to be coordinated to match her scythe. It was made of a dull whitish material mostly, the shaft being the main portion. The blade was red and black, the two seperated with black on top and red on bottom by a pattern reminescent of jagged teeth. Where the blade met the shaft an odd red eye outlined in black sat there, looking for all the world that it was just a aethestic choice.

The figure vanished from sight, leaving behind the single glowing streetlight in the night.

Going past a dumpster overfilling with garbage, the figure began talking, seemingly to herself.

"Soul, we are almost there. Then you could come out for a little bit." She spoke out loud, appearing to be speaking to no one, when out of nowhere a voice came.

"It's fine, Ruby. Is it cool to almost always be a weapon? No. Is it cool to whup someone's a*s as said weapon? Yes. It's all worth it right then. At least for me. Don't know about the other boozos though. Probably not as worth it."

The voice appeared to be coming from her back, but nobody was there. Right? Either way the girl only _hmmm_-ed in response as she finally reemerged onto one of Vytal's main streets, just across from the _From Dust to Dawn_ shop. From within the hood two eyes searched the blackness in the sky, checking for any threats. Finding none she crossed the street and walked in.

It was brightly lit and seemed to be well-stocked with both Dust and other items that one would normally find in a convenience store. The only worker that seemed to be there was an old man with bushy eyebrows at the front desk.

"Do you need anything Miss?" He had asked when she first walked into the shop. She shook her head and silently moved to the back where they kept the weapons magazines. Really, the only reason she came to this shop was the fact it was open so late. That, and they had good cookies over in the corner.

She grabbed the first magazine she saw at the back rack containing pictures of weapons. Before she could open it however she felt a gentle nudging at her back. If the old man was watching her he would have been shocked to see that her scythe was the one moving quietly and nudging her in the back. Instead of running out of the shop screaming about demonic posession, Ruby only went _hmm_ again, this time in a more questioning tone.

"Rubes, despite the joy I get from imagining you reading magazines, it's a little boring up here. How about a little music? I know you brought your headphones." The voice seemed to be coming from the blade of her scythe. Ruby simply pulled out her headphones, pulled them on, and twisted the dial to be loud enough so that the scythe could hear. "Thank you" the scythe whispered to her, which she didn't bother responding to. Sighing, the scythe focused on the music. It wasn't his favorite type of music, which, suprisingly, was classical, but he could make do with this rock-esque music.

"Wait a minute!" he whisper-yelled to his red-hooded companion. "I thought you said I could come out for a little bit!" His only answer was a subtle shrug that he could just barely make out. "Not cool Rubes. Not cool."

Ruby merely refocused back on the magazine; it had an article describing the forging and usage of a fire sword. She was so intent on the article and the blaring music in her ears that she barely heard the commotion in the background. Figuring it was just some clumsy tourist, she went back to her magazine. "Hmmm..." she thought as her eyes scanned the pages as if her life depended on it, "a fire sword requires rage and large amounts of red and grey Dust mixed together in order to be properly forged." She stored that tidbit for later as she continued scanning the article for more forging tips.

However, right then, a hand suddenly gripped her shoulder.

She turned her head a tad, hood falling off in the process. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a man in a black suit wearing red shades glaring at her. Actually she just assumed he was glaring at her because she couldn't see his eyes. The reason she thought he was glaring was the fact that she could see the tip of his eyebrows poking up as if in anger. She thought it was a little funny to see them move when he began pointing at his head, trying to get her to take her headphones off.

"Hmm?" she murmured as she slipped them off her ears much to Soul's chargin. The man frowned as he barked at her in a demanding tone "I said, put your hands in the air, now!"

"Are you... robbing me?" she asked in a sweetly innocent tone. Unknown to the man the eye on her blade made a curious movement, as if it was smiling. _This is gonna be good..._ the scythe thought to himself as he smirked in anticipation at what was about to happen.

"Yes!" the suited man shouted in exasperation as he began pointing his red blade at her. Instead of cowering in fear, the young girl, who he thought could be easily frightened despite the massive scythe on her back, simply turned around and placed the grey magazine back on the shelf. Next thing he knew he was flying through the air, passing a fellow thug and the man in the bowler hat, before smashing into the front wall of the store into a load of brass pans (why they were in a Dust store, no one knew) and being knocked unconscious.

For a moment the thug and his apparent boss stood frozen to the spot. Then the boss, a man wearing a long white overcoat with orange hair, sighed before inclining his head to the origin of the man's flight. The thug gave a nod of recongnition before dashing to the back of the store. He didn't care that the only person there (or so he thought) was a young-looking girl in a red hood, he just pointed a gun at her. "Freeze!" he yelled at her, tightening his grip on the gun. The girl in question seemed to sigh at his appearance. Suddenly she moved, and he felt the all-too-familiar experience of a booted foot hitting his face.

_Smash!_ Ruby kicked the man straight through the window, coming along with him because there was no room to maneuver within the shop itself. Landing softly on the ground in a crouch, she took a moment to see what her foes would do now. At the moment they seemed content to merely stare at her through the now-broken window, giving her looks of confusion. She smirked for once, rising to a straight-up position while one hand gripped the shaft of her blade with the other clicking off the headphones in the meantime.

"I'm getting excited... Time to whup a*s and take names! Let's do this!" Those words came from out in the blue, but no one seemed to have spoken. Ruby said without turning her head as she stared at the thugs with a cold glare, "Calm, Soul, we can't take any of their Auras today."

"Awww but why?! They're so delicious though! It's been too long since my last taste of Aura!" If a painted eye could pout, it certainly was doing so now. There even was a faux tear coming out of its corner.

"Shhh, Soul, I think they are about to attack." And so it was. The apparent leader of the group of thugs had, by now, overcome his suprise and murmured to himself "Okay...". Then he completely regained his senses and narrowed his eyes. "Get her." he ordered his thugs with a movement of his head. They ran out of the shop and surrouded her, guns and blades focused all on one target.

What did Ruby do? She yawned. "Too easy." She said aloud, much to the thugs anger. She then acted.

With an astounding burst of speed she dashed forward and, with a quick draw of her oversized harvesting-tool, slashed one thug diagonally across the torso, ending in a crouch while resheathing the scythe. The thug that was slashed just fell to his knees, then slumped down to the ground, a mysterious red energy leaking off his form.

"Soul, I said no taking their Auras!" She whispered in a harsh tone as she jumped over a slash from a particularly big thug. Spinning horizontally she smashed her heel against his face, then flipped over his head, dodging a shot like a true Neo. She stared at the top of the thug's head as the bullet missed her nose by an inch. Mid-air she gripped at the holsters at her legs, drew out some pistols, and fired.

The pistols were unusual for Vale. Unlike most pistols, which were thinner and fired faster with smaller bullets in addition to looking high-tech, these ones were thicker, fired in a semi-automatic fashion, look more antiqued, and packed a punch with every bullet that came out of the barrel. To add insult to injury the bullets could be injected with Dust beforehand, causing a myriad of effects; from freezing to lightning to explosions. One of the pistols was white with an engraved rose motif that was black. The other was black with a white rose motif engraved on it. She had forged them herself, and she had named the white one _Rose Petals _and the black one _Rose Thorns_.

At the moment said pistols were just using regular bullets, but they still took out a thug or two. The rest had to duck and cover as a thick stream of bullets coated the air with lead and shrapnel. They looked up as the girl landed in the middle of them. She grasped at the scythe on her back again and pulled it out, perpendicular to her body. Right before she began the classic "spin-around-like-a-raging-hurricane" technique, a voice could have been heard for a moment, the last thing the thugs heard before being knocked out. "Sorry, but it was _sooo_ good! I couldn't help it!"

The red maelstrom of destruction finally finished spinning as the all the thugs fell from the air, crashing into the ground, making cracks in the stone in the process. One landed at the feet of the man in white, who barely even took the time to look down in a disappointed and disinterested way as he murmured "You were worth ever cent, truly you were." He spat out his cigar and grinded it into the ground as he strode forth nearer to the girl. "Well, Red, I think we can all say that it has been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd like to stick around.." At this he pointed his cane at her as a grey cap on its bottom snapped open. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways." At that he fired a blinding white bullet at the girl as he seemingly vanished from sight.

Without any sign of hesitation she grabbed the scythe on her back and gave a big vertical slice, slicing the bullet in half and causing the resulting explosion to go wide. She glanced around searching for the would-be robber. She spotted him clinging to a ladder on a nearby building, staring at her with an open mouth. Ignoring the shopkeeper who had just came out of his shop, she ran towards the robber, scythe in hand. The robber by then shook himself out of his stupor and continued climbing.

When she jumped to the top of the building she saw the man climbing into a huge helicopter-type vechicle. He turned back to her with a sadistic grin on his face. "End of the line Red!" he shouted to her with the wind catching his words as he lifted up a red Dust crystal and tossed it at her. Immediately afterwards he fired one of his cane's bullets at her as well. He began opening his mouth, probably to do a sadisic whop of triumph, only to feel his jaw drop as the girl seemingly pulled a pistol out of no where and fired one bullet straight into the crystal. It exploded, taking his follow-up shot with it as well. She kept firing at the aircraft with the pistol as she drew out another one to fire with as well

The orange-haired criminal began shaking and sweating as he ran back towards the cockpit. _Who the h*ll is this girl? _he thought in a fearful tone as he ran in to see a mysterious woman in red piloting the Bullhead. "We got a... something, I don't know, just deal with it!" he shouted at her as he continued to feel bullets impacting the plane. They probably wouldn't do any harm, but who knows? The woman only rolled her eyes in response as she let Roman pilot the machine. She ran to the cargo door at the ship's side and observed her foe. She was young, but that meant nothing. She was just another obstacle to be eliminated.

She channeled her semblance through her body and began firing bolts of fire at the girl. The girl reacted remarkably fast, blocking each bolt with the blade of the scythe. Deciding to up the ante a bit because she didn't have time for this, the fire-wielder charged up her semblance to create orange circles of light under the girl. With a sudden spreading of her arms the woman unleashed massive pillars of fire on the stranger, incinerating her to ash, if she had still been there. Instead by then she had moved away to the side behind a air vent.

She then popped back out into view and, with a burst of inhuman speed, appeared in front of the woman. She swung the scythe as she fired with a white pistol at the same time. The woman jumped over the swing while coating her hand in fire. Once her hand was completely covered she blocked the bullet coming at her. She swung a wide haymaker at the girl, who jumped back onto the rooftop, cloak flapping in the air. The woman snarled as she channeled the flames between her hands, then unleashed them in a wide fan of writhing fire. The girl in red slid under them, "action hero" style, firing out of her dual pistols all the while. She stood back up, only to roll to the side as another maelstrom of burning death crashed into where she had been standing moments before. She vanished behind another air vent for the time being.

The woman stepped back deeper into the plane, taking a moment to collect herself. Frowning to herself as she stared at the stranger, who merely stared back at her over the top of the vent, she thought to herself _She is oddly strong for her age. However, as long as no one else shows up, we can escape easily_. Of course, as dictated by Murphy's law, the worse that could happened to prevent her escape then happened. Angular purple bolts of energy began raining down upon the metal chopper, causing it to rock back and forth. It threw off the shot she was about to fire at the girl. _Sh*t!_ she cursed mentally as she realized just who attacked the ship, there being the only person capable of summoning such bolts of energy. _That meddlesome little witch!_ Now that she had two strong enemies that were both attacking the airship, their chances of escape just went down a lot.

As she began fending off the purple bolts of energy with tongues of fire, she didn't notice a certain little red-cloaked figure sneaking towards the cockpit.

* * *

Roman Torchwick was feeling very very panicked at this point in time. First this red-wearing enigma popped up and ruined his beautiful robbery, then she followed him to his getaway vechicle and started battling Cinder, now an actual Huntress was attacking the ship as well! It was enough to drive anyone crazy! He took a few deep breathes to calm himself down as he tried to wrestle back control of the tossing and turning ship. As he just succeed in his task he felt a hand grip his shoulder. "Thank goodness, Cinder, you finally got those morons off our ba-" he started, only to freeze at the sight of a black barrel pointed straight into his face and a grey-eyed glare capable of starting another ice age.

* * *

Cinder continued firing bolts of fire at the now-visible Huntress and blocking the resulting beams of energy with her flame-coated hands. She was getting worried because the red-wearing figure hasn't appeared for a few minutes now. Suddenly, out of the blue, the ship began bouncing around and spinning out of control even more than before. She jostled back and forth, trying to get a good grip on the ship's floor, only to see a red blur appear on the rooftop she just vacated with an orange-haired lump. Cursing, she jumped from the ship onto a nearby rooftop. The ship rumbled about for a few more seconds afterwards before crashing in an explosion of orange light and shrapnel in an empty parking lot nearby. As she ran off into the night she thought to herself _Roman is truely useless. Maybe I should just let this Torchwick burn out._

* * *

Said Torchwick was being held up by his collar as his young capturer showed him to the Huntress, who he could see looked a bit scholarly and was holding a riding crop.

Ruby took one look at her new captive, then looked at the librarian-like figure staring back at her. Ignoring the cry of "That was awesome! Again, again! Let that guy go so that we can do it again! Either that or let me eat his Aura!" erupting from her weapon, she said to the lady in a purple cape "You're a Huntress." The voice was completely blank, no emotion in it or her face. Not even the slightest bit of awe or respect. She hefted up her captive by his collar and held him towards the Huntress. "This guy here has been just dieing to meet you."

"I hope that you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady. You put yourself and others in great danger." The female Huntess paced back and forth in front of Ruby inside an interrogation room. They had come to the Vale City Police Department, where they had dropped off the man they recognized as Roman Torchwick, master criminal, only for Ruby to be dragged inside another room by a certain female as Soul was taken away from her by a gruff officer. Now she sat there, awaiting the coming conversation.

"So I was supposed to do nothing as a group of thugs and cutthroats robbed the store I was in and probably kill the shopkeeper?" She said back in a cold but bland tone. The woman, who had called herself Professor Goodwitch, bristled at the statement.

"Young lady, you should alerted the authorities or called for help or-" she began to reprimand, only to be cut off.

"By the time I noticed the thugs they had almost robbed the store empty. When the authorities would have arrived the thugs would have already been gone, the owner murdered, the store empty. Besides, I highly doubt the man pointing a blade at me would have let me done anything in the first place." Ruby continued telling the Huntress in the same cold emotionless tone. The Huntress in question opened her mouth, probably to start ranting in anger at Ruby's rebuttles, only to be stopped by a call of "Peace, Glynda". The Huntress scowled, but moved aside as a man walked into the room.

He wore a green scarf with either dark blue or black glasses and had white hair even though he seemed fairly young. To Ruby, the man seemed strangely familiar. "Ruby Rose" he said as he came in with a mug and some cookies, which he sat down in the front of Ruby who ate them slowly. He leaned forward for a moment. Brown eyes meet grey-silver eyes. "You... have silver eyes." He said to the girl with a thoughtful look. She stared back at him with no obvious expression on her face. He blinked quickly, seemingly coming out of whatever stupor he was in.

"Now, where did you learn to do this?" he asked as Professor Goodwitch lifted up a tablet showing off Ruby's fighting at the store robbery. She sat silent for one moment, then responded, "My uncle taught me a little, but I taught myself mostly on how to fight with a scythe."

The man lifted an eyebrow. "Impressive. You say you mostly taught yourself how to use such a deadly weapon?" His answer was a nod. He stoked his chin for a second, then said "My name is Professor Ozpin." Once more he received no reaction. Pressing on he said "I am the heamaster of Beacon Academy. Based on your skills, I would be a fool to not invite you to attend. Would you like to?"

For a moment silence reigned in the room. Then the girl lifted her head from its lowered position it has been in the whole time and said a group of words, a group of words that would change her life so completely that only one or two other events even came close to changng her life as much. She looked the headmaster straight in the eye and said in a steady tone:

"Not particularly, but why not?"

* * *

Ruby walked down the alleys for the second time that night. After filling out the necessary paperwork to join the Academy she left the two professors and headed off into the night. As she walked she reflected upon all the events that happened that night just because she wanted to read a magazine. Before she could delve too deep into such things a bright glow appeared out of nowhere and coated the alley in bright white light. Ruby stopped but didn't turn around as she felt the pressure on her back lessen. A moment later the voice that had been speaking to her all night came out once more.

"Aaauugg, man I hate staying in scythe mode for the whole day. It's exhausting. Thanks a lot for letting me out so soon Ruby." She turned around, only to face a boy about her age, who seemed to feel like he didn't quite fit right into the world.

His hair was white, encircled with a headband with the word "Soul" written on it next to a cartoon mouth. He wore a yellow jacket with many pockets, with black lining the seams. The shirt underneath the jacket was red, with an anime scythe displayed in red and black on it. His pants were simple, just a standard black style you would see on any average Joe. Finally his belt and sneakers were of a dull, almost greyish, white color, with the accents on them being black. Overall he looked slightly odd, but not unusual in the streets of Vale. What made him seem not quite right was his eyes and his teeth.

Vale was well-known for its unusual eye colors, but even for Vale these eyes were strange. They were red, but not your standard light red like a certain blonde brawler. They were of a dark red, suggesting things of blood and madness. They looked crazied, insane, manic even. But on second glance, a certain excitement with the world could be seen within them. That just made them seem even creepier then they were before. And those teeth! Even a Faunus would flinch at how sharp those teeth were. They looked like they could cut through muscles, bones, anything. A extremely superstitious person might be frightened into thinking they could even eat someone's soul.

His appearance didn't frighten, or scare, or even make her uncomfortable in the slightest. She only shrugged and said to him "Sorry, Soul. But we can't have you scaring the general populace now, can we? And I said no eating anyone's Aura! We can't have those questioms popping up right now! Especially since we just got accepted to Beacon!" With each successive sentence her voice raised in volume and started containing more anger each time as well. Each sentence caused the boy to grow smaller and smaller, shrinking within his jacket.

" Sorry Rubes. Its just been so long since the last time we fought anything and I got to eat an Aura. I was just getting a little too excited." He murmured almost inaudibly as he nestled his head within his jacket. Then he seemed to realize something. "We got accepted to Beacon? Cool! That rocks! Now we can get to our goal faster! Hordes of Grimm here we come!" he excitedly yelled out as he straightened up again and starting grinning. He didn't know it earlier because he was taken away from Ruby before the meeting and was examined by a strange man with white hair, only being returned after the meeting.

His happiness was so infectious that she made a small smile as well, albeit a small one. It also probably helped that over their bond she could literally feel his happiness a little. She shrugged and turned away with that small smile on her face as she started walking away. He hurried a little to catch up, elbows in the air as he reached his hands behind his head and placed them there.

He started talking to her again for a moment. "Ruby, you don't seem too excited right now. Why not? We just got accepted to Beacon, after all." He cocked his head during the entire time he said this, white hair falling into his eyes.

"I'm only doing this to achieve our goal. Hunters and Huntresses... protecting the general public from things they barely realize exist... things that cause most of them to die... with no thanks or reward in return... I think they are all fools. Stup*d fools with no understanding of what exactly it costs them, or idiots who send others to their deaths just for some more money to line their greedy little pockets, without caring that these people had dreams, lives, families, that they just left behind for no reason at all. All because some boozo wanted some random Grimm out of his town, probably one that didn't even bother a fly. Morons, the lot of the them." She said with a hint of anger in her normally glacial tone as they continued walking along.

A second of silence passed between the duo. Soul was quiet with a sad expression on his face after this mini-rant, but he replaced it with a smirk and told her, "Well in that case, call me a fool." Ruby chuckled quietly for a moment before growing quiet again.

For a while they walked in comfortable silence through the night, walking past dumpsters and rubbish piles alike. Then he spoke again.

"You know, learning that we got accepted to Beacon, seeing how far we have come, that reminds of when we first met, eh, Rubes?"

"Yes..." she barely breathed out, so low that he could barely hear it. Whatever he said next was lost on her as she started remembering that day...

* * *

_She had just turned five. She was out playing at the park when her uncle, Qrow, came up to her._

_"Ruby," he said, "There is someone I would like you to meet." He grabbed her small hand within his own and began walking towards his shop with her._

_"Who is it, Uncle Birdie?" she asked in that way only children could. "Is it someone my age? A new playmate?"_

_He laughed out into the air. "Hahaha correct Ruby! But he is someone special. Very special. Now shush, we're about to see him."_

_They turned a corner and then she saw him. Like her uncle said he was her age, but unlike her he looked underfed and not clothed quite right. His clothes wre ripped and stained, his ribs were easily visible, and he had several bruises on his face. It loked like someone had mistreated him in the past. He sat on a bench, looking for all the world as if he had nowhere to go._

_At the very moment she saw the poor child little Ruby felt something stir within her, something she had never felt before. It felt like... a connection. A bond. One that was almost unique. Before her uncle could stop her she ran forward and stood in front of the child on the bench. He looked up and Ruby noticed he had red eyes and sharp teeth but she didn't care._

_"Hiya, my name is Ruby! What's yours?" She sang to him in a playful voice. The other child looked startled for a second as he looked up, then ducked his head down low again._

_"Soul." He whispered it so softly that only the child right in front of him could hear it._

_"Nice to meet you, Soul! Are you a Faunus? Your teeth are very pointy, pointer than anyone I have ever seen!"_

_If it was possible, he slumped even lower as he whispered "I don't know."_

_Ruby stopped for a moment, then beamed. "Well I think they are very cool!"_

_The child looked up, suprise and hope reflecting within his red eyes. "Really? You think they are cool?"_

_"Yup! Very cool! Hey, Soul, want to be friends?" She moved closer at this last part and cocked her head in expectation._

_"F-f-friends?" he sounded as if he never even heard the term, much less experienced it. He stared at her in confusuon._

_"Yup! Please? Can you be my friend, please?" She leaned in even closer, asking in a pleading tone._

_He stared right into her eyes, and she stared back, a shocked expression facing a begging one. Then for the first time during the entire converstaion, he smiled. "Yes. I will be your friend Ruby."_

_"YAAAAYYY!" She shouted out, causing her new friend to cover his ears. She grabbed him and drew him into a tight hug while squealing about all the things they could do together, like picking flowers, building sand castles, swinging swings, and loads of other things. At first he tensed up, but eventually he loosened his body and hugged her back._

_The last thing she heard from her uncle before her excitement overwhelmed her and caused everything else to become a distant buzz was "Incredible. The last meister in the world finally united with the last Demon Weapon. They are going to do great things together, I know it."_

* * *

She was shocked out of her thoughts by Soul asking her a question.

"Hey Rubes, what's for dinner?"

She groaned as she continued walking, their apartment building almost within sight. "It's always food with you of any sort, isn't it? Even with the fact you eat Auras."

Shrugging, he retorted, "Hey, consuming a manifestation of someone's soul is a hungry buisness!"

"That dosen't make any sense!"

"I eat parts of souls, of course it doesn't make any sense!"

* * *

Professor Goodwitch walked into the room just as Ozpin was picking up a few stray folders off the table, ever-present coffee mug in his hand. She just came back from checking on Torchwick and the two were about to leave to return to Beacon Academy. She nodded at him and was just about to turn around and leave when he spoke.

"Glynda, what do you think of her?"

"Hmm?" She asked as she turned bacl around to face the man. In all the years she had known him she still doesn't know what to expect from the strange headmaster.

"What do you think of Ruby Rose?

"Well..." she started hesitantly. For some reason thinking of that girl made her feel... uncomfortable. "She is very capable for someone her age, but something about her seems... off. And she's a smart a*s."

Ozpin nodded at the statement. "I expected no less from one of my best professors. (At this Professor Goodwitch perked up a bit. Compliments from Professor Ozpin were few and far in between.) Except for the smart a*s comment. Really, Glynda, show some decorum. (Professor Goodwitch slumped down at this.) She is strong, but she shows no emotion at all, no matter what I said. She seems cold. Uncaring. Even Emotionless. And something in her mannerisms, some little tic perhaps, something tells me that this was caused by some sort of event in past. What happened, I don't know. All I know is that something did."

"And her main weapon, the scythe." he continued, standing up and leaving the room with Professor Goodwitch, heading towards the exit. "It is even stranger. For one thing it doesn't shift forms at all, at least not in anyway I could tell. Another thing is that it was putting off a large Aura signature, almost as if it had one of its own. Even the most well-used Hunters' weapons don't usually put off signatures like that. And finally, the entire time I was examining it, I got this feeling..." he shivered at the end, causing him and Professor to stop under a street light near the airport that would take them back to Beacon.

"What is it, Professor?" Professor Goodwitch asked in a concerned tone. He breathed out, and finished what he was saying as they continued once more to the airport.

"It's just... the entire time I was examining, I felt that the eye on it was... following my movements." He breathed in and out one last time as they climbed into the airship going to Beacon.

"Basically," he said as the airship took off, "I felt like that the scythe was watching me."

* * *

Roman Torchwick, master criminal, leader of the Vale underworld, one of the most feared men the world over, sat in his cell and glared at his gloved hands, moonlight shining in through a high-up window. They took away his hat and his cane due to finding traces of Dust usage within them, so he was left with glaring at his hands.

It was supposed to go perfectly. The old man was supposed to be frightened into giving up everything, they would escape with all of that Dust, and their plans would be so much farther ahead! Instead he was captured by a some snot-nosed girl and he lost all the Dust. Him! Roman Torchwick! The greatest criminal on the face of Remnant! Losing to some brat off the street! It was inconceivable! In his anger and rage at himself, Roman Torchwick did not notice the sounds of gunfire, flames, and screaming coming ever closer to his cell until the door bursted open. He shot up, fists raised in a classic boxing stance.

"Really, Candlewick, you think that could stop me?" A displeased voice told him as the moonlight highlighted the figure that had just stepped into the room. He lowered his fists as he realized who was in his cell.

"Cinder." He breathed out in a relieved tone as he saw his employer, ignoring the insult she greeted him with. "Thank goodness you're here." He made to leave the cell but Cinder blocked him off with her arm.

"If it wasn't for your connections in the underworld, Candlewick, I would have just left you here to rot. (Roman tensed when she said that.) But, unfortunately, I still need your help for the moment, so I am busting you out. However..." she threatened him as he began leaving the cell again, "if you fail this badly one more time, I will find you no matter where you run, Roman. And I will end you in the worse way imaginable." Roman nodded furiously as he left the room. On its own the threat didn't sound so bad but he had seen what she had done to someone she said that to. To this day it still gave him nightmares.

"Good..." she cooed as she saw him scamper off past the bodies of the guards she slaughtered. As she moved past the blackened corpses she remembered the red-cloaked girl she fought earlier that night.

_She could become a big problem... _she thought as she remembered seeing that Ozpin fellow entering the police station earlier, no doubt to recruit here for his wretched academy. _Or..._ as she thought about it a massive grin grew on her face. A grin of pure sadism and bloodlust that looked unnatural on her pretty features.

_She could become a great pawn._

* * *

**Annnddd... done! So how did you like it? Was it good? Bad? Apalling? Don't be afraid to tell me. A slap in the face is a good as a handshake here. In a non sadistic way, that is. Before you go, two quick things please.**

**A) Can you guess how many episodes of Soul Eater I watched before writing this?**

**B) Did I write Soul right? He is concerning me in particular, so some feedback about that would really help. Thanks.**

**I guess that's it then. So long, fair well, avida say goodni- wait. Wrong piece of television. My bad. Either way, so long and enjoy yourselves! Bye! Have a good one!**

**Edit: Extended Ruby/Cinder fight scene and a few other snippets. Fixed one or two mistakes. Adressed some concerns in the reviews. How did you like the changes? Do they improve the story or make it worse?**


	2. Chapter 2: Arrival

**Hello. In case you haven't noticed, if you care that is, I went back and revised the previous chapter a little bit. Mainly I extended the fight between Cinder and Ruby and made Ruby rant a little about her feelings of Hunters and Huntresses. As for the reviews, well, let's see.**

**FlamingGinger06- You think so? Thank you. I was little worried about writing him since I don't have as well of a grasp on him, but thanks for reassuring me. As for meisters sounding like a race, I simply made them individuals who are genetically capable of handling Demon Weapons. Okay, on second thought that does sound a like a race. Don't worry, I will put the manga on my to-read-in-the-future list. Your guess in episodes...errr... let's just say it was a off a bit.**

**Hakuryukou79- Thanks for the luck and the compliment. I will try my best. Let's found out how it changes, shall we?**

**Hazzamo- Hahaha short and sweet! Thank you!**

**garoorar- Good. I try for interesting. For your answers to my questions, A) ... shhhh. I also read the wiki a bit so it's not as bad as it seems. Sorry everyone. B) It's not so much that he is bloodthristy, it is more like he enjoys the thrill of combat a lot since it doesn't happen a lot for him. He really gets hung up on Auras because he consumes them even less than he engages in combat, making the delicacy so much more delicious. You know what I mean, right? Plus he won't be exactly the same as he was in Soul Eater. He will be similiar, but remember, he was born into this world, not brought here, and undoubtly somethings will have changed. I will explain the whole Grimm-Aura thing eventually, maybe even next chapter. Yes, they will do a variant of Soul Resonance with Aura. And don't worry, while Beacon won't be the best for him right now, but later, who knows? Either way, thank you for your feedback.**

**necrofantasia- Since upon reading your review I agreed with it I went back and changed their conversation a good portion. Thank you for the idea. Besides, think about it. If a girl years your junior suddenly popped up out of nowhere and did something you could never do, how would you feel?**

**pokemonallstarfan- Aww thanks. I try. Let's see if I can, shall we?**

**Now that I covered all da reviews 'n stuff, I should probably start this chapter. Enjoy (or not, your choice).**

* * *

High above the colorful streets of Vale City, an airship was flying. Unlike the helicopter-reminiscent vehicle recently used by Roman Torchwick in his botched escape attempt, this one looked like a massive cruise liner, with three spaceship thrusters attached to the back and massive flippers connected to its sides. Within one of the lower decks of this massive behemoth the incoming students of Beacon Academy were relaxing, talking, or generally standing around, save for a specific few.

Near the center of the deck a girl with flowing blonde hair and light purple eyes was holding court. She was laughing loudly, bending over while shaking the shoulder of one of her friends as another one told the joke. Many people in the room seemed to gravitate towards the girl, most not even knowing her name. But by the end of the flight they would surely know it then and count her among her friends. She simply appeared to be that type of person, friendly, popular, funny, and pretty. No doubt she would be the life of any party, and no doubt will start quite a few as well. Beacon to her would be a hobby, a pastime, a game, simply a place to pass the time between the wild parties she attended. She was there just because that was where the party was.

A dark corner held another blonde within, this one male and wearing obvious armor unlike his leather-wearing fellow blonde. Also unlike the other blonde he seemed to be a nobody, a reject. He seemed that way because no one else in the room even noticed him, much less talked to him. He was gripping his stomach as if in pain, probably from motion sickness. His dark blue eyes darted around the room, searching for threats, most likely bullies in his case. In short, he seemed weak and cowardly, unprepared for this Academy of blood and death.

Finally, lurking within the darkest possible area that a deck with many large windows could have, a girl sat cross-legged as she read a black book matching her outfit. If asked, many in the room would have been hard-pressed to see that girl, blended in as well as she was. Atop her black hair she wore a black bow that seemed strangely out of place. Despite her apparent focus on the book she was tensed up, prepared at any moment for fight or flight. Her hand never seemed to move far away from the sheathe containing her weapon. Something within her amber eyes suggested experience gained with pain. She seemed to be the most prepared student on that entire deck for the strains of Beacon Academy.

"Not including myself, of course." Ruby thought to herself as she finished scanning the deck, face and eyes hidden beneath the red hood draped over her head. Since the moment she sat in her seat she observed all of the incoming students coming into the room and examined them more closely once the airship took flight. Out of the roughly twenty students on the deck, only those three stood out. Why, she wasn't sure, but something told her to watch out for them in the future.

That something was not the yammering sentient scythe on her back.

"Rubes, I want out! For the past week since we were accepted to Beacon you only let me out to eat and to relieve myself! Come on, I want to see if our new school is cool enough to go to!" Soul sounded almost pleading as he yammered to her while still sitting on her back. That entire week he had been forced to stay in scythe mode almost constantly "as punishment" while Ruby went out and trained a bit more. Spending most of a week in scythe mode did absolutely nothing in improving his sanity. At this point, he was willing to go out naked tied to a dog leash.

"Fine, when we get there and the coast is clear I will let you out. Now shut it, I'm watching my fellow students." Ruby murmured quietly to him while her grey eyes continued flicking between the others in the room.

Really, besides the fore-mentioned three, no one else stood out at all. To her they were only a background, things only seen, not heard or used.

Sighing, Ruby sat up straight, observation of the room complete. Nothing important to remember. At that moment the newscast at the side caught her attention. It was talking about recent events in the world and the one that just came on related to her.

"Shocking news has just been revealed to the press. Roman Torchwick, a well-known criminal, has escaped from prison after his capture during a failed getaway. The only clues to how he escaped are the burned corpses of the guards that was in his sector of the prison at the time. Apparently he had escaped the night of his capture but the prison declined to reveal the news until now. If you any information about his whereabouts, please contact the police immediately." The news report flashed a mug shot of Roman after his capture during their talk about his escape.

"Hey Rubes, wasn't that the guy we captured the other day?" Soul asked from her shoulder. His only response was silence and narrowed eyes. "Errr... nevermind. So how about the weather today, Ruby? Isn't it nice?" Soul eagerly asked in hopes of moving Ruby's thoughts away from the news, lest she start taking her anger out on someone, usually that someone being him.

Before Ruby could respond, no doubt in her coldly sarcastic way, the news report began talking again.

"In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted..." the news lady began while showing a picture of the protest in the background. The moment she said "White Fang" Soul audibly growled. Ruby reached behind her and patted the scythe as she kept her eyes narrowed. The Faunus terrroist organization was a lot of the reason Soul was bullied and beaten when he was young, so naturally the duo held ill will against them. Before she could continue calming Soul, however, the newscast shimmered and changed into a image of Glynda Goodwitch.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon." The Huntress said to them. Ruby's response was to snort. Her opinion of the uptight professor was not very good. She didn't despise the woman but she didn't like her either.

"Who's that?" The blonde girl she saw earlier asked, stopping her merrymaking for the moment. _3...2...1..._ Ruby thought to herself. When she reached _1_ the image said "My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh." responded the blonde in a tone of suprise. Ruby rolled her eyes as she sat back in her seat, eyes still concealed within her hood. _Not too bright that one._ was her thought as she ignored the still-speaking image on the window. It was probably some high-ho speech about they were going to protect the world and how Beacon was going to help them do so. Just the same peppy speech every school she ever went to said.

Instead she focused on the view outside her window. Currently they were high above Signal Academy, a well-known warrior's school located within Vale City. If she strained her eyes enough she could just make out the little shapes of the students far below them, many of them certainly wishing they were where she was now. Next to Signal was the river that ran through the city, with many trees and cafes lining its banks. Beyond that the many buildings and lights of Vale could be made out, stretching far out into the distance, almost as far as the all could see.

"Wow... so cool. I hope the view from Beacon is just as good." Soul whispered as he peered over her shoulder to see the view. Ruby went _hmm_ in response, eyes still scanning the horizon.

They remained that like for a minute, only for them to hear the instantly-recognizable sounds of someone puking his breakfast all over the floor reached their eyes, as well as the cries of "Eww it's on my shoes! Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!". Soul started full-out laughing, creeping out the students nearest to her as they saw no one making the sound. Ruby didn't bother to smile nor turn around, for she knew who had puked and who had been puked on just from the noises.

"Hahaha Rubes, looks like the two blondes just got acquainted! Hahaha!" Soul managed to get out between his bouts of laughter. Ruby merely shook her head at the antics of her partner, used to him by now.

Unknown to the two in the corner, the girl in black from earlier turned towards them, eyes narrowed in curiousity as she examined the scythe hanging on the girl in red's back.

* * *

_Errrrrrggggggg_ went the ship as it coasted to a stop. Over the speakers came the announcement that they had arrived at Beacon and are free to depart. Immediately the crowd of incoming students stood up from where they were sitting and moved out the doors in a babble of talk and laughter. Ahead of the crowd a boy with blonde hair ran off the ship quickly. One would think he was excited to arrive... until he dashed to a trash can and began introducing himself and the contents of his stomach.

Near the back of the crowd Ruby walked forward slowly, head ducked low. Just as she expected the blonde was experiencing motion sickness, badly if his meeting with the trashcan was any indication. She moved past him without looking in his direction, no sympathy or pity in her eyes. If he couldn't handle an airship, how could he possibly survive in an academy meant to train him to fight monsters? Walking past the still-upchucking boy (how much did he eat this morning? A truckfull?) she turned a corner, then stopped.

She saw Beacon Academy properly for the first time. She stopped in order to properly examine the sight. A cobblestone road lined with elegant streelights led up to the academy proper. Surrounding the central buildings was a white aqueduct split in the middle to accommodate the road. From this distance many of the high pointy buildings were coated in shadow. The only building that could be made out with any detail was the tallest one in the middle. It was shaped like a lighthouse with several chimneys while underneath its main roof was a green object whose purpose she could not identify. No matter her opinions about its administration and students, she had to admit that Beacon Academy was an impressive sight.

"Amazing! This has to be the coolest sight I ever seen!" Of course the moment had to be ruined by a certain red and black scythe. "Now I really can't wait to go here!" Soul was like an exuberant puppy at this point, that was how excited he was to be seeing Beacon for the first time.

"Soul... You are not going here. I am. No one can know that you are... you. Do you understand?" Ruby didn't particularly crush Soul's dreams, but she had to keep him grounded, otherwise who knows what he would do.

"Right, right. You told me before. Really, Rubes, you can be so uncool sometimes." He sighed as he spoke, depression evident in his tone. Ruby rolled her eyes as she said to appease him "If you are good, I will let come out for a bit and explore, okay Soul?" Before Soul could start ranting about how cool she was or how amazing Beacon looked Ruby felt something bump her back. She turned around only to see a luggage cart stacked high with white suitcases, except that the suitcases were falling to the ground. She lifted an eyebrow, wondering who would bring so much stuff to a Hunter's academy, only to hear an angry voice yell at her.

"Watch where you are going, you complete dolt!" The voice yelled from behind her. She turned around to see a girl with white hair and clothes glaring at her and stomping around. The girl opened her mouth to complain at her only to be cut off.

"Actually, your cart ran into me. And for the record you are going to Beacon Academy so you don't need so much luggage. You should only need your weapon and battle clothes, nothing else." Ruby retorted in her bland tone. The white-haired girl's face grew red in anger and she started gripping the rapier at her waist.

"Why you little prick! Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?! Do you know who I am?!" The girl shouted back at her in rage. Ruby thought for a moment then said:

"I don't know who you are, but I know what you are. A spoiled little princess, perhaps an heiress, used to getting everything she wanted. Whenever something doesn't go your way you simply stomp your feet and have someone despose of it for you. Someone who simply has everything handed to her, but hates it all the while. A sad and lonely little princess sitting on her throne of ice, without anyone to love or to be loved. That is who I think you are." The whole time she said this the same blank and bored face sat on Ruby's face, not even twitching as the girl in question grew enraged and pulled out her rapier to attack her.

"You stinking little-!" The girl yelled as she lunged forward, steel sword in hand, only to stop at the sudden disappearance of her foe. One moment she was there, the next she was gone. Next thing she knew a very sharp blade curved around the front of her throat as a glacial voice whispered in her ear, "If you ever want to hurt me, you will have to do much better than that." The heiress turned around slashing but no one was there. The heiress stopped her slash and straightened up in confusion. On the road no one could be seen, and the only sound that could be heard was the whistling of the wind. Huffing, the heiress placed her luggage back on its cart and continued moving in the direction of the school.

* * *

"Why did you do that Rubes? You aren't usually that mean to people." Soul asked as they walked in the small forest directly next to Beacon. After their confrontation with the white-themed heiress, Ruby had dashed into the woods to find a spot to let Soul regain his human form. They had been walking for a little while now in search of a clearing big enough for the tranformation. They had just walked past a particularly big tree when Soul decided to pipe up.

"Simple, Soul. If I didn't say such things she would have tried to steamroll all over me and others in the future. And I wanted to get further than a day before I send anyone who tries to perform stunts like that on me to the infirmary." Ruby murmured as she caught sight of a clearing that would suit their purposes very well. Striding to the middle of it she pulled Soul off her back and sat him on the ground. She turned around as a bright light filled the clearing. A hand gripped her shoulder and she turned around again to look straight into Soul's grin and striking red eyes.

"Thanks Ruby. Man I am really stiff right now. Let's start walking to the Academy so that I can get the kinks out." To prove his point Soul stretched his arms above his head and several audible _criiicks_ and _pops _could be heard. Ruby nodded and turned back towards the road, walking along with Soul beside her. They moved out of the forest and walked along the road towards the academy that was looming ever closer.

"Hey, look at that guy. He seems kinda lonely." Soul pointed in the direction of a nearby bench as he talked. Without turning her head Ruby saw in the corner of her eye the same blonde from that puked on the ship staring down at his hands. He looked so sad and so dejected that of course Soul would have noticed him. He was someone who cared for others like that.

She shrugged as she continued moving towards the buildings, only to realize that Soul had vanished from her side. She looked around for the human that could turn into a scythe and noticed that he had started walking towards the blonde on the bench. Sighing she turned back to retrieve her kind-hearted weapon of mass destruction.

* * *

It was not a great day for one certain Jaune Arc. First he had to wake up super early to get to the airship on time, then he almost missed it anyway, next he had experienced some of the worst motion sickness in his life, after that he threw up all over a pretty blonde girl, and now he was sitting alone on a bench because he didn't know where he was supposed to be going. All in all, he didn't know if the next thing that will happen make it worse or better.

"Hola, amigo. Como estais?" he heard suddenly. He looked up from where he was looking downwards in sadness and jumped at how close this newcomer was and the very sharp teeth he could see coming out of his mouth. He calmed as he realized this guy was smiling at him, meaning he probably won't bully him, and noticed that near the stranger someone was standing still in a red cloak. Deciding that since the red-cloaked figure was silent he could ignore whoever it was for now, Jaune responded to the sharp-teethed stranger in his usual elegant and well-spoken manner.

"Huh?" The stranger laughed (those teeth! They look like they can snap through bone!) and chuckled to him, "Haha I'm just messing with ya, no one understands that. The name's Soul, nice to meetcha." At that he stuck his hand out. Jaune stared at it, trying to tell if it was a snub or not. Based on the eyebrow that the stranger just raised, it wasn't.

"Jaune Arc" he said as he grasped the hand in a (he hoped) firm fashion and shook it. "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

The stranger chuckled again. "If that was the case with names, then I would be swarmed by the ladies by now. Nice to meet you Jaune." He grinned as he finished shaking Jaune's hand.

"Sooo... who's your friend?" Jaune asked, nodding at the figure. The figure barely moved at the mention of her presence. "Ruby" the figure said back to him, emotion absent from her tone. Jaune felt a bit... uncomfortable when the figure responded, so he moved back to his more expressive companion. "So you both are attending Beacon?" he asked in an attempt to get his mind away from the fact that a shiver was currently running down his body from the figure's tone. He mentally facepalmed himself, of course they both were attending Beacon, why else would they be here?!

"Naw, I'm just 'visiting'. Ruby here, however, is. In fact she's a new student like you." Soul told him. Out of his entire response, Jaune only focused on a few words. "Wait, she? You are a girl?" By then he had turned to face the fgure, only to be suprised as she pulled the hood back from her face and revealed a girl who looked two years younger than him with the blankest expression he had ever seen. "Err... h-hi... my n-name is Jaune." he stuttered out when he saw the girl's face. The girl, who had black hair with red and white highlights, didn't change her expression at all as she said "I know."

"Umm...right..." he stammered before he remembered something. "Hold on, what do you mean by visi-" he cut himself off as he realized that Soul was already walking away. "Wait, where are you going?!" he shouted as his new (and currently, his only) friend was about to vanish from sight.

"I'm heading off to wherever we're supposed to go, you comin'?" Soul shouted back right before he disappeared behind some trees. Jaune didn't even have to think as he took off running towards Soul, leaving the girl named Ruby standing alone on the road.

* * *

"_Pant...huff...pant...huff... _I finally caught up to you Soul- WHAT?!" Jaune had finally caught up to Soul, who suprisingly already reached the campus by the time he caught up, and started talking to him before he realized that Ruby was walking next to him.

"I thought I left you behind in the forest! Wait a second... oh. I'm sorry. I forgot about you. But how are you already here?!" Jaune had ran hard the entire time to catch up and he was positive that no one passed him the entire time. The only answer he got was a small shrug from Ruby, so small that it almost didn't count as one.

"Okay... don't tell me. I will figure it out eventua- oh who am I kidding. I never going to find out, am I?" Jaune slumped down in defeat as he realized this. He was rewarded though in the form of an almost miniscule smirk that the girl gave him. Soul visibly jumped when he noticed that. He slid next to Jaune and cupped his hands around Jaune's ear, whispering, "Feel very very triumphant right now. She almost never smirks for anyone but me." _WHAM!_ Soul was flat against the ground, holding his skull in pain. Jaune whipped his head around only to see Ruby walking as if she didn't just decked Soul straight to the ground. Jaune was about to ask when he saw Ruby starting to raise a hand and decided to drop it. Then he remembered another question he had.

"How did you know I was a new student?" he asked Soul, who stood back up and acted like nothing ever happened or that there wasn't a lump sticking out of his white hair. He shrugged. "We saw you on the airship we were on for new students." Jaune frowned. He vaguely remembered seeing a figure in red on the ship but he didn't see anyone with white hair on it or sharp teeth. He _definetly_ would have remembered those teeth.

"But where you on there? I think I saw Ruby but not you. Where you another deck or something?" He asked. Soul appeared to not have heard the question as he continued to walk along with his hands behind his head. Jaune went to ask again when he was interrupted by the random question of " So what is your favorite food?" Caught off guard by the seemingly out of the blue question, Jaune nevertheless answered "Pizza."

"Really?! Mine too! Some are so good they almost taste like Au-" _WHAM!_ Once more Soul got to enjoy the taste of dirt. He stood back up and shook himself off, as if this happened all the time.

"What is your favorite part of it? Mine is the sauce." The rest of the conversation went something like that. Jaune and Soul talked about various foods the whole time as Ruby led them along.

"So where are we going?" Jaune suddenly addressed Ruby, who didn't respond. "I thought you knew!" Jaune thought to himself for a second and said "Y-You think there might be a directory? Some kind of recognizable landmark? Maybe a food court?" His answer was a loud laugh from Soul. "Is, uh, that a no?"

"Probably not, but I like the way you think!" Soul answered with a grin that would frighten sharks.

* * *

After another five minutes of searching the two students and the Demon Weapon found their way to the courtyard where everyone was gathering. They walked in. Ruby noticed a girl in orange and red that stood out to her, but since the other two didn't see her she kept quiet as they walked past her. Seeing as there was no one she really wanted to stand with, Ruby stood by Jaune and Soul as they finished their conversation about the pros and cons of white meat vs red meat.

"And so, in conclusion, white meat tastes better and is healthier than red meat. And anyone who thinks otherwise is a chicken." Soul started guffawing at his own joke as he wrapped up his finishing argument. Jaune opened his mouth to for his rebuttal but stopped and shrugged.

"Fine, you win. White meat is better than red meat." Soul cheered for a moment but suddenly stopped and stared slack-jawed somewhere into the crowd.

"Soul? You there Soul? Remnant to Soul, do you copy?" Jaune waved his hand in front of his sharp-toothed friend's face but got no response. Jaune turned to Ruby despite avoiding her most of the trip. "What's wrong with him Ruby?" he asked her. Ruby turned to face Soul for a second, then faced Jaune again.

"He sees a girl he finds beautiful." she said as she returned to examing the crowd.

"How can you tell?" Jaune asked in confusion. Ruby snorted in response.

"Look at his nose." Jaune turned around and leaned close to Soul's face. There, out of the corner of one of his nostrils, was a small trail of blood leaking downwards. He followed the path Soul's eyes were following and saw a blonde girl in leather laughing and joking with her friends. He could see why Soul's nose was leaking blood. The girl's oufit was a bit... revealing. The blonde girl seemed to notice Soul staring at her and gave him a smirk and a wink. The blood flow increased to become a thick torrent.

"Soul, focus. Stop oogling the blonde girl." Ruby interrupted Soul's one-sided staring contest. "I was not staring at her, I was just... watching to see if she was a threat, that's it!" Soul desperately replied back to his red-hooded partner. Ruby calmly told him "That blood trickling from your nose begs a differ."

As Soul loudly and vehemetly protested that he wasn't staring at the girl, Jaune chuckled. He hadn't been around the two for long, but he could tell that they were good friends despite Ruby's cold demeanor. He just hoped he could one day have a friend as close as these two were.

Somewhere in the crowd a magenta-eyed boy sneezed before being hounded by a girl in pink about if he was okay and was he sick, maybe she could do something, like find a doctor or take his mind off of it or get him pancakes or-

Imagine something like that happening for five minutes and that was their conversation at that point.

Before Soul could finish his tangent about his innocence to his silent companion they heard the noise of a microphone being tapped and someone saying "I'll keep this brief." They looked towards the stage where they saw Professor Ozpin standing at the front with a microphone and Professor Goodwitch standing beside him.

"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge - to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." After he finished he moved towards a door at the stage's rear while Professor Goodwitch stepped up to the microphone.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." At that she left the stage as well.

Outwardly Ruby didn't react to the speech, only kept her head down as she let her hood cover her head, but inwardly she snorted. _I'm sure they came to get new skills, but I highly doubt all of them plan on protecting the people. I also doubt that knowledge can only carry you so far. It has carried me a long way for the moment. In fact, in the entire speech, there was only one thing I thought was true. That all he sees is wasted energy._ Ruby was suddenly shook out of her thoughts by a certain red-eyed weapon of hers.

"Hey Rubes, annoying heiress at your six o'clock." Soul whispered into her ear. Meanwhile Jaune stood to the side, confusion written on his face. What was Soul whispering to Ruby? Ruby, on the other hand, only nodded as Soul moved away, her head still concealed within her head.

"You!" The shout rang through the courtyard, echoing off the sides, causing many people to look around in suprise. Jaune could only look on in shock as suddenly a white blur dashed past him and stabbed Ruby. Or at least where Ruby had been standing because by then she had vanished. The heiress immediately whirled around, rapier at the ready as she prepared to block a slash by her enemy. Seeing no one, she made a full 360 as she turned around and around searching for her foe. Panic entered her mind as she realized she couldn't see the girl anywhere. _Where did she-? NO! Focus Weiss! Don't let the dolt get to you! You can do this! _the heiress thought in an attempt to reassure herself as she continued scanning the arena for a flash of red. Suddenly her feet left the ground as the same voice from last time whispered in her ear "You still need to do better than that." She shivered and closed her eyes at how glacial and chilly it sounded, expressing less emotion and care than she thought possible, so much more disarming than her's could ever be. Then she stopped moving. Opening her eyes she saw what position she paled before reddening and screaming to be let down.

Jaune, along with many others, felt his jaw drop as he saw Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee company, one of the most powerful companies on the face of Remnant, hanging upside down from the top of the archway leading out the courtyard, skirt flipping downward to reveal her underwear. Despite Weiss screaming for them to look away and her attempts to cover her underwear with her hands, almost everyone in the crowd noticed that she was wearing black lace. A few, either really brave or really foolish, even cat-called and wolfwhistled at the sight. She hung there for a few minutes, screaming, yelling, and finally breaking down and sobbing before the janitors found a ladder big enough to retrieve her from her position. The moment she came down she ran off, sobbing and screaming about how she will sue them all and have them locked up for life, starting with the red-hooded prick that put her up there. The prick in question was nowhere to be seen. Neither was a certain white-haired human shark.

* * *

"Again Rubes? Why won't you leave the poor girl alone? She may be uptight and annoying, but she didn't deserve that. That wasn't very cool at all." Soul was the one to bring up, naturally, as the two walked along the various corridors of Beacon after their escape from the courtyard. Of course, the next thing Soul said erased any idea that he had pity for the girl.

"Of course," he began, blood dripping from the corner of one of his nostrils, "not that I'm complaining at the sight. Black doesn't seem like her color but hey? What do I know?"

"Soul." said Ruby as they walked past rows of dormitories.

"Yes, oh meister o' mine?" He asked in a faux-innocent tone.

"Shut it."

"Right."

"Anyways," Ruby told Soul as they walked past a window showing the main fountain of Beacon, students gathered around it in gaggles, "I was merely setting an example. Anyone who thought they could have dismissed me or used me to their own purposes just because I am younger than the average student now knows that I am one not to be crossed. Besides, if the heiress didn't leave me alone under the threat of violence, now she will avoid me for fear of humilation. I really should have thought of that the first time."

"Ruby, you really are very uncool sometimes. Well, all this talk of humilation and uncoolness has made me hungry. On that note I'm going to find the cafeteria okay?" He said to her as they came to a junction between corridors going in four directions including the one they just came from.

She sighed. "Always, always food, isn't it Soul? Even when you just met Jaune it was still all about food."

"Hey! He happened to be a fellow connoisseur of the almighty pizza! It was destined to come up!" He protested as they lingered there for a moment.

Sighing again Ruby replied in a weary tone, "Fine, but in a hour come to the empty classroom adjacent to the ballroom. They said that the first year students will be sleeping in the ballroom tonight and I would like it if you remained hidden close at hand so for now you will be sleeping there. Along that vein of thought don't make a racket in the cafeteria or eat them out of house and home. And no fighting on the way!" She said that last part in a much stricter tone than the previous part of her statement.

"Aww man, fine! And it would have relaxed all of my kinks too!" Soul complained and pouted as he set off in a random direction in search of the awe-inspiring wonderland known as a cafeteria. Ruby shook her head as she set off in another direction, well aware that Soul was going the complete opposite direction from the cafeteria. "He's bright enough to figure it out." she thought as she moved towards the library. Right then a cry of "Ow! Move out of the way- oh. It's a pillar. My bad!" reached her ears. "Then again," she thought as she reached the doors to the library, "perhaps not."

* * *

After giving the standard welcome-to-Beacon speech Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch headed towards Ozpin's office to fill out some last minute paperwork. As per usual after every welcome speech the two talked about what they thought of the incoming students. They dismissed the usual students that came in every year, the ones that seemed to blend into the background, and had moved on to the students that stood out to them. They had just finished discussing Pyrrha Nikos, the three-time Minstral regional champion, and was about to start talking about Yang Xiao Long, the blonde brawler well-known on the underground circuit, when one of the jantors ran up to them and interrupted.

"Professor Ozpin!" he shouted, panting and out of breath. Ozpin frowned at seeing one of his staff, albiet a non-teaching one, act in such a non-professional way.

"Yes? What is it?" he asked the man, who by that time managed to regain some air and straightened up again from his hunched-over position.

"Quickly! Look on your Scroll! It's about Weiss Schnee! Camera 23!" he shouted to the two professors.

Once more Ozpin frowned as he pulled out his portable Scroll and went to the camera feed indicated by the janitor. He didn't care about the Schnee heiress in particular, but Mr. Schnee would get his backside if something happened to his daughter while she was on his campus. After all, even a school designed to train warriors to kill monsters needed some donations from time to time. Especially with that anger management class. Seriously, how do they run through fifty droids in an hour?! And that's was when everyone but one was away sick! How is that even possible?!

"Ahem." Professor Ozpin shook his head several times, to clear his brain of his internal tirade about the costs of the anger management class, and turned to his assistant. "The Scroll, perhaps?" she continued, nudging his arm to get his attention.

"Err... ahem. Yes, the Scroll." Struggling to regain his calm and collected air he turned to his Scroll and looked at the events happening outside in the courtyard. Professor Goodwitch and the unnamed janitor started leaning closer to look at the tablet only to leap back in shock as the esteemed headmaster of Beacon fell to the floor laughing and rolling around.

"Pr-pr-Professor Oz-Ozpin?!" Professor Goodwitch stammered out as the janitor glared at the man still rolling on the floor. "Wh-what are y-you doing?!"

Grasping his stomach as he climbed onto his feet, Ozpin passed the device to Professor Goodwitch as he continued laughing his socks. Professor Goodwitch took one look at the device before reddening in rage. "You... Ozpin..." she growled in an irritated tone as she lifted her riding crop in a slow and threatening manner. Ozpin took off, still laughing full-throttle the whole time, dodging bolts of Dust and energy as if he did it every day as Professor Goodwitch chased after him, firing out of her riding crop and yelling "Come back you oaf! Here's what I think about your laughter at your students suffering! What type of headmaster are you?!"

They left behind the janitor with the Scroll at his feet as the dust (the regular sort) kicked up in the air around him. He bent over and picked up the Scroll still showing Weiss Schnee hanging upside-down at the archway and screaming. He sighed as he walked away towards Ozpin's office to return the Scroll.

"Why do I always work for the crazy ones?" he grumbled as he went down the corridor leading to the headmaster's office.

* * *

After taking his punishment and a quick detour to the infirmary, Professor Ozpin continued making his way to the Initiation cliffs to do a few last-minute adjustments to the initiation test. Professor Goodwitch walked along with him, still a little red and steaming from earlier. To stop her from dwelling on those thoughts (and hoping to prevent another beating) Professor Ozpin spoke up, grabbing her attention.

"You know that was Ruby earlier, right? Who did that to the Schnee heiress?" he told her, to her great suprise.

"Hmm. I would not have thought it. She seemed too... indifferent to such things to bother with doing that type of thing to someone." She said in a curious tone, much to Ozpin's secret amusement.

"Well, I can see why. By embarassing and humilating the heiress in public, she insured that said heiress would not bother her again. I saw that little scuffle on the lawn earlier, so it comes as no suprise that this would have popped up again. If anything I thought it would have happened later. Weiss Schnee didn't strike me as one to rush in recklessly." he said as they reached the top of the cliffs and scanned the emerald-green canopy of the forest.

Most years they usually didn't bother with adding in lesser Grimm, the forest did that naturally, but they would add in one or two higher-up Grimm as a test to the students' teamwork and skill. This year, though, they didn't need to. The Deathstalker that had been slumbering for a long time, since almost beyond recent memory, within a cave in the forest had shown signs of stirring. Add in a few clumsy Hunters/Huntresses-in-training and they wouldn't have to worry about supplying a higher class Grimm at all. With a large Nevermore spotted in the area recently as well, this would be an interesting initiation this year.

"One thing does intrigue me though." he murmured as he observed the forest through the Scroll he retrieved from the janitor. Hearing Professor Goodwitch go _hmm?_ in an interested tone, he elaborated. "As I spoke to the students this year (You sounded unfocused and off this year, Professor Ozpin. Glynda, I am trying to tell you something important. Condone my lack of public speaking skills later.) I noticed something odd. Before I left the stage I saw that near Ruby was a boy with white hair and red eyes."

"Yes, I think I know who you are talking about." Professor Goodwitch butted in, stopping Ozpin's chatter. "Was he wearing a yellow jacket and black pants?"

"Yes. He was." replied Ozpin, sipping at his coffee. (_Odd._ Glynda thought to herself. _I didn't see him bring his coffee mug._) "You know I personally check all of the incoming student's files, and I didn't recongize him from any of them. How could he sneaked on campus if the only way here is the airships and you only could get on one with proper identification? Despite that, that was not the strange thing. The strange thing was his Aura."

"What about it?"

"Through these (he tapped the side of his glasses as he talked. While he wears the glasses he could literally see people's Auras.) I saw that his Aura was unusually large." Professor Goodwitch was about to cut in again when Ozpin raised his hand to quiet her. "No that's not it, otherwise Jaune Arc would be held in much higher regard than he is currently, even including the fact he is an Arc. No, that boy's was unusual because I have seen that exact Aura before."

"But you say haven't seen him before?" Professor Goodwitch questioned him in a confused way. Throughout this entire conversation they remained atop the cliffs, examining the forest far below.

"I haven't. His Aura, however, I have. I have seen it on a certain red-hooded student's scythe. The exact same signature that was on that scythe is also on that boy."

Professor Goodwitch gasped. Normally nothing could faze her, but for some reason that did. "Then what does it mean?" she breathed out to the headmaster. He chuckled.

"That I do not know. For now all we can do is just continue with initiation as normal. You may resume your regular teaching duties now." Professor Goodwitch grumbled at the slightly-rude dismissal but still left, leaving Ozpin standing alone atop the cliffs, silhouetted against the setting sun.

He leaned against his cane and sipped his coffee (Seriously, where did he get his mug?!) as he reflected upon the recent discovery.

"So..." he whispered so quietly that he couldn't hear himself against the gentle breeze, "there are several possibilities. For one thing maybe he lent the scythe to Ruby that night, but why? How could he have used it enough at that point to leave such a distinct signature on it? One problem with this theory is that Ruby had it today. Maybe that's why he came today to the ceremony? To get it back? Ruby doesn't seem like someone who would borrow a weapon... or attempt to take it with her to Beacon. Overall this idea doesn't add up."

"Perhaps, (sip) he is just a random bystander who somehow wandered onto campus and happened to stand next to Ruby? But why would his Aura signature be on her weapon? Maybe one of them stole it from the other?" He shivered as a massive wave of pure rage and hatred rolled over him from somewhere. "No. Not continuing that line of thought. So that's out."

"Or maybe... just maybe... I did not think they still existed but maybe..." he slowly grew quieter and quieter as he said the sentence, the final words barely a breath into the wind. His tone was calm but undercurrents of fear and awe could be made out as he spoke the final words.

"... maybe he is a Demon Weapon."

* * *

"AAACCCHHHOOOOO!" Soul wiped off his nose with his hand as he looked around the hall. He had been walking for a little while now when suddenly he sneezed for no apparent reason.

"Huh. Maybe someone is talking about me? I hope it was the pretty blonde girl from earlier." He chuckled quietly at the thought as he continued on his way. Then he sighed as he realized probably not. He was cool, but not that cool. "Still," he shrugged as he thought, "one can dream."

He was interrupted from his musing by a couple of boys talking loudly and roughly while turning a corner towards him. Upon seeing them he slouched down, stuck his hands in his pocket, and started whistling. As the boys neared Soul he looked in their direction and gave them a nod and a grin. Fulfilling his obligation to spread the "cool among the school" he continued on his quest for the almighty pizza.

The boys had other ideas however. They stopped and turned to face him. One of them, a boy in heavy armor with orange hair, poked his head out and barked at Soul, "Hey you!"

Soul frowned. The boy's tone sounded arrogant and full of himself, with a streak of demandance lurking within. "Yes?" he asked in back in an even tone. He may have said he wouldn't fight, but if they attacked it wouldn't be a fight it would be "self-defense." Despite what Ruby thought he didn't go around picking fights with everyone he saw, but he was willing to use "self-defense" as necessary. He just happened to use "seld-defense" a lot.

"Are you a Faunus? Your teeth seem really sharp to not be." was his answer. His frown deepened when he heard them comment on his teeth. It has been a sour point for him ever since he was little. People would just point at his teeth and back up in fear or they would beat him in anger. In fact, no one ever said anything positive about them until he met Ruby and she said they were cool. He thought of what he should say back, thinking it wouldn't be wise to say a simple "yes or no". Coming up with few other ideas, he countered with his own question. "What does it matter?"

"Because we don't like those freaks around here. That means if you are a Faunus, you are a freak and you need to be taught a lesson." The boy smirked in a way that suggested supreme arrogance as his three friends laughed at his comment. They each wore some form of armor, either heavy or light, and they had tanish brown, light-blue, and lime-green hair. Based on his first impression, they didn't seem to have a independent bone in their body as they said nothing at all as the orange-headed boy insulted all Faunus-kind, only laughed.

Inwardly Soul's frown grew into a grimance of anger and rage but outwardly he grew a smirk of his own. "Aww why so mean to your fellow human beings? What have they ever done to you?" The bully, as Soul could now see that he was one, scowled as he snarled "They are no humans! They are freaks! Monsters! They are little more than animals that deserve to be kicked around!" He ended his rant with a malevolent laugh full of malice as his friends joined in.

Soul's only response was to deepen his smirk. "Oh. Now I get it. Sometime when you were little a Faunus had beaten you, and it drove to to distraction. It clawed and pried at you until the only thing to do was to convince yourself that they were freaks, animals, and that you were naturally better than them, just to erase the shame of defeat from your mind. Maybe you even convinced yourself that you let them win, just so you didn't with the failure. Aww you poor baby. Did the little carrot-head lose to some itty-bitty Faunus child? Aww..."

"Why you little-! Let's get him guys!" The bully roared to his friends and they all ran in, battle-cries ringing in their ears. They charged in, weapons already swinging at his body. He jumped back as he avoided them. From what he could see the orange-haired one wore heavy armor gilded with gold and had a large bird-like crest imprinted in its middle as he swung a demonic-looking mace, with the spikes angled around a large red cyrstal, straight at his mid section. The guy with the green mohawk's outfit struck him as barbaric, being mainly fur armor with a spiky shoulder pauldron. He used two green swords that he slashed at Soul's head, whick ducked underneath quite easily.

The other two wore armor similiar to a standard man-at-arms without the helmet, the only differences between the two was that the armor was colored to reflect their hair color and that the blue-haired one's armor set was slightly more angular than the others. He used some sort of halberd while the brown-themed bully used a simple bronze short sword. Overall, they used equipment and armor that, if there one was such a thing, would be considered standard to most Hunters and Huntresses. They, however, seemed skilled with their weapons of choice and would cause any ordinary unarmed person a good deal of trouble. Fortunately for Soul, he was anything but ordinary. (**Dang it my cliche alarm just went off!**)

Soul ducked and jumped over the various slashes that came to him, sometimes leaning back to avoid the occasional attempted stab. Finally he jumped back and grinned because currently the four boys that were attacking him were hunched over and huffing to regain their breath. "Not bad." he said as his left arm began shimmering. "But let me show you how to really teach somebody a lesson." _Sorry Ruby, but I have to make sure they never mess with any Faunus ever again!_ he mentally shouted as his left arm was engulfed in a bright light. The onlooking boys watched in suprise, then shock as the light dissipated and it was revealed that his left arm had become a red and black scythe blade.

_Uh oh._ They thought as Soul strode forward. This was not going to go well... for them. The leader of the bullies finally pulled himself back up from the ground and yelled at his friends "Come on! He's just a freak with a weapon for an arm! I bet he cuts himself every times he moves! GOOO!" Having rallied his fellow oafs, the leader charged with his mace outstretched, his friends closely behind him. As for Soul, he laughed inside. _He's right. I did cut myself, quite a lot actually, when I first achieved this. But now..._ he smiled without any real pleasure in it and readied himself for the coming fight.

He jumped to the side as a bronze sword flashed through were he was moments before. He did a forward roll underneath the mohawked kid's swords as they tried to mince him into pieces. He stood up, only to parry with his arm (blade?) an mace that came smashing down. He grunted as his foe applied more pressure to the strike, causing him to back up. He saw the halberd coming in and knew his opportunity had come. He suddenly shoved the bully off his arm and spun, arm-blade flashing in the light. His blue-haired foe wasn't expecting the move and had to stop his blow in order to avoid Soul's slash.

He didn't notice Soul's other arm coming in until it had grabbed the top of his chestplate. By then it was too late because Soul's momentum had spun him around until Soul let go, causing him to go flying into his brown-haired companion. He crashed into him, causing their weapons to fly out of their hands as they collapsed to the ground. The halberd went flying to the side as the sword went sailing to Soul's feet. Soul dropped to the ground to avoid a especially vicious set of slashes coming from the green dual-wielder and picked up the discarded blade in the process. When he rose from the ground he swung the bronze sword at the green-dressed boy, who blocked it easily with one sword while stabbing with the other. Soul knocked it aside with a well-timed slash of his scythe-arm.

As the two began an intense sword duel, the dual-wielder with his green blades and the Demon Weapon with his accquired blade and scythe-arm. The dual-wielder would slash violently but Soul would duck under them or lean back, avoiding the strikes entirely. But when he tried to counter-attack the dual-wielder would block with one blade while attacking with the other. All the while during this stalemate the orange-haired leader sat back and watched them fight. He wasn't too concerned because the Faunus-loving traitor forgot about him, or at least he thought he did. Seeing an opening he charged in, yelling at the top of his lungs as he swung his mace in a blow that could crush skulls.

Unbeknownst to the two, Soul smiled when he heard the over-confident leader coming in with a strike. When the green boy's next strike came in he deflected it instead of blocking, causing the dual-wielder to be off-balance as he slipped to the side. He tripped the orange-head on his way out of the strike-zone so that the blow would not crush the green-head's skull. He may want to teach them a listen but he didn't wan them to die. That isn't usually very cool. The blow struck and the dual-wielder screamed as he dropped his blades, hand grasping at his skull as blood trickled out, staining the bottom of his mohawk a light pink hue over the green. Before th two could react further Soul reverted his arm to normal and picked the two up by the collar, tossing them into their friends that had just shakedly made their way back to their feet. The quartet collapsed into a collection of limbs, metals, and curses.

Soul smirked as he dropped the bronze blade and moved towards the quartet slowly. "You see," he began, catching the bickering group's attention, "if I had been a Faunus, you would have just lost to one of you so-called 'freaks' a moment ago. The next time you try to bully someone based on their race (at this his smirk grew demented and full of madness, to such a level that even Grimm would be frightened and causing more than one pair of pants to feel unusually damp.) I will find you. You decide among yourselves what will happen next."

Then suddenly his smirk grew light-hearted and humorous again,scaring the quartet on the floor further. "Rubes may not want me to fully eat your Auras, but that does't mean I can't have a little snack." He moved closer, causing the group to collectively try to shimmer away only to be caught in each others' limbs. They gasped as he made a little cut on each of their arms (why are his fingernails so sharp?!) and an odd red energy seeped out and surrounded each cut. They all felt weaker as Soul moved away, hands once again in his pocket as he said to the group as he departed, "Thanks for the snack fellas. Let's do this again sometime."

Just as Soul was about to move out of hearing range the one with orange hair managed to regain his voice and shout after him, "We won't forget this you traitor! On my name as Cardin Winchester, I will have vengeance upon you!"

Soul chuckled as he moved out of hearing range. "Sure, whatever you say. I'm always up for a little snack. Which reminds me, where is the cafeteria?" He sniffed the air around him and set off in the direction of the most promising smell, leaving behind the quartet to curse and yell as they tried to untangle themselves and reclaim their weapons.

* * *

Soul came back from his trip to the cafeteria while munching on a pizza slice, so Ruby assumed it was a success. By the time he had returned, however, night had fallen and the moon had risen in the sky, shattered fragments gleaming against the dark ground. While Ruby was waiting for Soul in the empty classroom she had changed into her pajamas, so that was the sight he saw upon entering.

She wore a white tank-top with her stylized rose emblem emblazed in black on the upper center. Her pants, on the other hand, were black with white polka-dots and her slippers were black as well. In fact, the only splash of color in the outfit came from her cloak, which she wore even to bed. The hood in particular was useful as she used it as a eyemask. Since she never went anywhere, even to bed, unarmed she wore her holsters around the tops of her arms instead of her legs. She sat on top of a rolled-up sleeping bag in the middle of the room, reading a book.

"You are late." Ruby said, not even glancing up from the book she got from the library earlier that day. The librarian was a little suprised that a new student had came in on the first day, but Ruby knew that Soul would be late, as always, and prepared accordingly. If she was going to wait might as well gain some knowledge while at it.

"Sorry." Soul replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I got lost on the way while trying to find the cafeteria. But I found the pizza in the end, so it's all good!" On that note he lifted his pizza slice into the air reverently, gazing upon it with awe-stricken eyes. Ruby chose to look up at that moment, blank expression on her face as usual, and returned to her book.

"You have fought and have eaten part of someone's Aura. Multiple Auras, if I assume correctly." Ruby muttered, all the while reading the book as if she was lying on the beach with it.

Anybody not used to Ruby would have been flabbergasted to hear her say that just from taking a look, but Soul just slumped and sighed. He should have known better than to try to pull one over Ruby.

"Yes I did Rubes. But I actually had a reason this time!" he explained, only to receive a raised eyebrow in response.

"No it wasn't just 'self-defense' this time, I promise! Shesh. Have a little faith. (Soul chose to ignore the fact he used the excuse of 'self-defense' almost everytime he got into a fight, even the ones Ruby specifically saw him start.) But no, instead they were insulting the Faunus, calling them 'freaks' and 'animals." By now Soul's fists clenched as he glared, not at Ruby, but at his memories of the encounter. "I could not let them continue to do so."

Ruby nodded as she read her book. She was well aware off Soul's feelings involving the Faunus, and while she didn't cooperate with his methods of beating those who insulted them, she didn't stop him either. "However..." currently a cocky smirk was growing onto his face, "they attacked me first, so this time it really was self-defense."

Ruby didn't bother acknowledging his last statement as she stood up and went to the door leading to the ballroom, but stopped as Soul called after her.

"Ruby." he called. She turned around to see him already in the sleeping bag she brought along just for this purpose, yellow jacket lying to the side. "Good night. See you tomorrow. I will miss you."

She gave him one final nod as she turned around and exited the mostly-vacant classroom. Soul sighed as he snuggled deeper into his sleeping bag.

"Baby steps, Soul, baby steps. One day she will say it back, I know it." On that note he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of cheesy wonderlands and tomato oceans.

* * *

A little while, back in the ballroom, Ruby sat in a corner watching her fellow students prepare for bed. Most of the girls were wearing tank-tops like herself or t-shirts while the males mostly went shirtless. Pretty much everyone either wore pajama bottoms or shorts.

She noticed that in one corner the girl in black from the ship was reading next to a candleholder, still wearing black in form of a short kimono and the same black bow from earlier. Every now and then Ruby saw the bow twitch and stored that information away for later.

Near the center of the room the blonde girl also from earlier lounged abut, still laughing and joking around with her friends.

Ruby's eyes continued scanning the room until she saw a certain boy wearing blue footie pajamas wave at her. She ignored him in favor of watching the rest of the room.

She was so focused on her task she almost didn't notice the blonde girl marching over and waving as well. Almost.

"Hellloooo!" she cried in a sing-song as she moved right in front of Ruby. Ruby remained seated in the corner, not acknowledging the girl's presence. Maybe if the blonde saw that she didn't respond, maybe she would leave her alone.

"My name is Yang! Yang Xiao Long! What's yours?" she said with a smile, bubbling over with sheer enthusiasm. (**Warning. Cliche Alarm moved to Level Two.**) Then again, maybe not. The girl now known as Yang leaned over and cocked her head at Ruby, expecting an answer. Knowing that she wouldn't leave her alone until she replied, Ruby said in a emotionless tone:

"Ruby."

"Nice to meet you Ruby! So what are doing here all alone in the corner?" Why was this girl still talking to her? Couldn't she see that Ruby was busy?

"Watching."

Yang seemed to be caught off guard, smile faltering for a second, before her smile returned, albiet a little smaller than before.

"Okay. What are you watching for?" Her eyelids lowered in a suggestive manner and whispered as she nudged her in the arm, "Are you looking for the cute boys? If so then I think I could be of some help in the manner."

Ruby ignored the eyelids and the arm-nudging as she replied, "No. I am watching for threats and obstacles."

"Ohh..." the girl's smile grew smaller again as she asked, "What will you do if you see one?"

The look Ruby sent her was so full of apathy and so cold that she literally had to take a step back, lest the look froze her to the spot. Then Ruby said in a tone filled with nothing at all, not even the slightest hint of sadism or paranoia, "Eliminate them."

"Uhh...um...well...uh..." Yang stammered. She was moments away from making an excuse and bolting away when an unlikely ally came to her intervention.

"I have you now prick!" someone shouted as a razor-sharp blade stabbed in Ruby's direction. She seem to vanish, only to reappear at Yang's side just as a girl dressed in a white nightgown ran into view, grey rapier at her side.

"Heiress, I thought you would have gotten the message by now. Or was the underwear flashing for everyone to see not enough?" Ruby replied as she vanished again to avoid another thrust from the heiress. Said heiress squealed as she attempted to cover her privates and still hold her weapon in a threatening manner. Needless to say the attempt failed miserably.

Something clicked in Yang's brain as the words hit her mind. "Wait, that was you?" she asked in a disbelieving tone as Ruby appeared behind the embarassed girl's shoulder. Ruby nodded as again she disappeared to avoid the heiress' blade. Yang burst out laughing.

"Bwahahahaha that was awesome! You, my dear, are amazing! I must know how you did that!" she managed to get out between bouts of belly-hurting laughter and soft giggling. Ruby sighed as she vanished again, only this time to not reappear.

"That is enough for tonight." they heard as the two looked around for the mysterious and cold girl who called herself Ruby. "I will see you all tomorrow at Initiation." Weiss stomped off while Yang giggled as she returned to her friends. _That_ she thought to herself as she was welcomed back with cries of "Yang, you're back!"_ is a girl I wouldn't mind learning more about._

* * *

The sound of a door creaking open reached his ears, making Soul wake up and turn to face the door, prepared to flee if need be. He grinned his sharp-toothed grin as he saw his best friend walk into the room. Without saying anything he scooted over in his sleeping bag to make room for her, which she took without comment as she turned to face away from him. Soul only smiled as he turned away as well. He fell asleep moments later with that smile on his face, as the broken moon shone in through the window, highlighting the two partners as they prepared for the new life awaiting them tomorrow when they awoke.

* * *

**Wow. That was very easily my longest chapter yet. It is somewhere over ten thousand words, maybe even eleven thousand. But it's all worth squat if none of you like it, so I honestly hope you do. Well I have have a question to ask real quick before you go, or if you want just go now, but either way here is is.**

**I know it is probably really early to be asking this, but if anyone is bored and has some artistic talent could you perhaps draw a picture of Ruby as described last chapter for me please? I would really like to have a picture like that for the cover image and would be very grateful is somebody could supply it. Feel free to add in whatever little details you want. Please?**

**Well, even if you don't want to, thanks for listening to me anyway. I hope you all have a swell (insert time of day here). You know what to do: hate, read, rant, enjoy, review, curse, or any combination of said actions. Well, that is all. Bye.**

**P.S. Thank you very much for betaing this chapter for me, FlamingGinger06! I appreciate it!**


	3. Chapter 3: Launch

**Hello. I'm really sorry for not updating this in so long, I was just on vacation and didn't have too much access to a computer. The few times I did, I couldn't get the files for this on there. Basically, it just didn't end up well. In short, sorry everyone. Thank you all for the reviews, though! That was way more than I was expecting and it makes me glad that people still like this story. Thanks. Well, better get this show on the road! Sorry about the really long author's note!**

**Hakuryukou79- Hehe, don't worry, you will know eventually... unless I forget to mention it. Thank you, I will try.**

**Hazzamo- Yes it is, Hazzamo, yes it is. And who says someone didn't take a photo? I certainly did not (wink wink). As for Ozpin, thanks, I just felt like he deserved some laughter. Who knows how much of it he gets in his job? Might as well laugh it up when he can.**

**necrofantasia- I agree but every time there was no adult witnesses. No professor ever saw her attempt to attack Ruby, they only saw the results. As for the favoritism, it's not that he cares personally, it's because Mr. Schnee has a lot of influence in the world and wouldn't hesitate to use it against Ozpin and the Academy if Weiss got hurt on campus. Ozpin doesn't have to worry about what happens to her on missions and whatnot because, well, it is an occupational hazard, but when she is threatened on campus? That's a different story. Yeah, she probably should. Otherwise who knows what will happen? What you said... or worse... hehehe, hahaha, HAHAHA, MWHAHAHA! Ahem, sorry, just needed to express my slightly sadistic side every now and then. Carry on.**

**pokemonallstarfan- Aww thank you. I try, I try. Hopefully I won't disappoint, eh?**

**Demonslayer572- Thank you very much! I have some plans that I hope I pull off, so I hope you like them! The backstory will come, don't worry, it will. Yes, by the way, I will.**

**Veigas Terre-... I am not sure what to say. Thank you. I will try to not disappoint.**

**rwbybomb21- Thank you. It will be more frequent from now on, I'm positive. I still have some stuff to write before I'm through.**

**foggraven- Don't worry, I will.**

**Flarecraft- Thanks.**

**Guest- I'm glad that you think so, I've been trying to work on that. Well, let your concern concern you no more, I updated! Late, yes, but still updated.**

**Kriss1989- Didn't you see the little disclaimer-type blurb at the beginning of the first chapter?**

**BlackHeart- Thank you. Hey, unexplainable reasons are the best reasons, right? **

**Lazaus- Thank you, although I'm more of an eight out of eight person myself.**

**That's that. This's this. There's there. I have no idea what I just wrote so I'm just gonna start the chapter now. Enjoy (or not).**

**Edit: Forgot to add in line breaks. My bad. Added those in, fixed a few mistakes, and adjusted one or two sentences.**

* * *

"Huuuffffhhhh." Soul sat up in his sleeping bag and yawned, arms stretching out and hands rubbing against his eyes. Moving one hand away he cracked open an eyelid, only to shut it again.

"Dang it you sunlight... can't you shine somewhere else?" he muttered as he adjusted to the bright light streaming in the window. Once he was finally able to open his eyes he stood up and made his way towards his jacket, careful to avoid stepping on his sleeping companion. Ruby may not care about being woken up at any point in the morning but no one likes being woken up by being stepped on. That person being Ruby was only an additional reason to not do so.

He smiled as he observed the still-sleeping meister. She had curled up in a ball and had the closest thing to a smile she could make plastered across her face. Soul enjoyed watching the girl sleep (in a non-creepy and stalkerish way, mind you). She looked happier than she did any other time and he didn't want to ruin the rare occasion.

Soul managed to walk over his sleeping partner without incident and grabbed his jacket. As he shrugged it around his shoulders he called out "Morning, Rubes. Wakey-wakey. Time to wake up. It's iniation day! Today's the day we get to have a feast! Imagine all that pizza and chicken and steak..." His mouth started watering and drool started dripping out as he thought of all the mounds of food awaiting him.

Ruby awoke without yawning, stretching, rubbing, or anything. She merely opened her eyes and sat up. She turned to face Soul and raised an eyebrow at the sight that greeted her. His mouth was pouring out saliva like a waterfall and already a sizable puddle had formed on the ground.

"Soul, we will be fighting Grimm, beasts known to make grown men pee their pants, trying to stay alive long enough to get a spot into one of the most famous schools on the face of Remnant, and the first thing you thought of was the celebatory feast?"

He shrugged. "What can I say? I just woke up and I'm hungry. Plus, it's not like I am really concerned about all the Grimm, I know you and I are ready for anything, eh, Rubes?" He finished with a shark's grin.

She nodded as she grabbed her bundle of battle clothing, armor, and weapons then walked out of the room.

"I will meet you in the cafeteria in a few minutes, Soul. Try not to draw attention to yourself. Technically you are not supposed to be here so I don't want anyone to notice you specifically."

"I know, I know." He said nonchantly, rolling his eyes. "Jeez, Rubes, you don't need to remind me every time you leave me alone. Believe it or not, I don't always go out and draw attention to myself."

Ruby's response was to poke her head back into the room and point to the bloodstain on his jacket that hadn't quite dried yet. He looked down at it and then glanced back up at the door after she closed it.

"That was one time!" He shouted after her. The door cracked open again and again the finger pointed, only this time to change where it was pointing periodically to the various hidden bloodstains that still lingered on his jacket despite several washes.

He pouted and crossed his arms, the very definition of a petulant teen, albeit one that could change into a deadly weapon at will, as Ruby closed the door again. He heard the sound of footsteps slowly dimming as they moved off into the distance.

"You will never let me live it down, will you, Rubes?" he grumbled.

* * *

As Ruby moved away from the classroom and her grumbling partner towards the bathroom, carrying her bundle of clothes and weaponry in her hands, she walked past someone going in the opposite direction. Based on the black outfit she wearing and the ever-present bow on her head, she was the same person lurking in the shadows on the airship yesterday. Ruby kept moving past her, face hidden underneath her hood, and went further down the hall. She felt the black-themed stranger's eyes glance at her but she ignored the look, almost turning around the corner to the bathroom before the other girl spoke.

"Why are you coming from this side of the hall? The ballroom was over on that end." The girl asked, her tone mostly bland but containing a hint of curiousity. Ruby stopped walking for a moment but didn't turn around, instead pivoting her head just enough to see the stranger out of the corner of her eye before speaking.

"I slept in an empty classroom over there." Ruby answered as she took another step away from the bow-wearing female, only to stop when she heard another question.

"Why did you sleep in there? The ballroom was perfectly alright." By this point the other girl had stopped moving altogether and had turned towards her, apparently making this a real conversation rather than a quick chat in the hallway.

"I cannot observe potential threats when they're sleeping, among other things. They don't act like they would when awake. I saw no reason to remain." Ruby responded coldly, not caring about what the other girl thought.

"Observe potential threats? Why would you think that the other initiates could be enemies?" Seriously, why was this girl so curious? It's going to kill her someday. (**I'm sorry, I just had to type that.)**

For a moment, Ruby didn't bother to respond, simply turned her head completely straight again and continued walking. Upon reaching it she started going around it, only to stop for a brief moment when just the barest glint of her silver eyes was visible to the bow-wearing girl. Then she spoke.

"Why shouldn't I?"

Just like that, she vanished, leaving the stranger to wonder about what she just said. The stranger with the bow narrowed her eyes as she questioned why Ruby answered as she did.

"What could have happened to make her think like that?" She asked out loud as she resumed her walk to the cafeteria, only to jump back into the shadows of a nearby pillar as she heard a voice suddenly appear quite close to her.

"She's always tells me to be careful. Of course I'm careful, I never get hurt in fights!" The voice said as it slowly became louder and louder. Peaking around the pillar, the mysterious girl with the bow saw a strange kid with white hair walk along a few feet in front of her. He seemed to be thinking out loud as he ambled along to the cafeteria. "Well, it's mainly because Ruby is careful about using me... but I'm careful too! It's not completely her!"

She snorted while listening to the boy ramble to himself, amused at his private protesting. Then she frowned as she realized what she just said. Using him? What does he mean by that? Who's this Ruby person that would use him in combat?

"Still, I'm never get hurt so who cares if I'm careful? As long as I don't get hurt, I can still enjoy my pizza! Hahahaha, that's right! Who cares?! I'm can still enjoy my pizza no matter who's careful! On that note, to the cafeteria!" The red-eyed boy laughed as he slowly walked out of sight, his laughter ringing off the walls before quickly fading away. Her frowned deepened and her eyes narrowed when she heard him laugh. Hadn't she heard that laugh recently?

* * *

After a few minutes in the bathroom changing into her battle clothes, Ruby made her way to the cafeteria. She walked in a side door, looking around the room for her red-eyed partner as the usual clamor of a cafeteria filled with teens hit her eardrums. Her silver eyes darted from side to side before she finally noticed him over by the windows. Actually it was a little odd she didn't see him earlier with the waving and the shouting of "Hey, Rubes, over here!" that he was doing. She chalked it up to morning fatigue as she nodded and silently found her way towards him.

She sat down next to him without a greeting or even a nod. He merely grinned at her, though, as he said "Morning, Rubes, I gotcha some food. (At that he slid over a tray filled with pancakes and bacon with a glass of orange juice on the side) You remember Jaune, right?" He gestured to his other side at the nervous blonde boy sitting there. Said blonde gave her a small smile filled with anxiety and waved hesitantly.

She glanced at Jaune. She must not have woken up right or something this morning, otherwise she wouldn't have missed such an obvious detail. She gave him a subtle nod without expression as Soul continued, food spilling out of his mouth.

"I was walking over to get some food here when I saw Jaune standing alone near the door with a 'lost puppy in the woods' expression." He smirked for a moment with a strip of bacon hanging out the corner of his mouth. "I couldn't let a fellow pizza man stand there all alone so I invited him to join us. Do you mind?"

Ruby shoke her head as she grabbed her fork and knife and began eating her pancakes silently. Soul smiled. "Great! So, Jaune, how was your sleep? Did you have any cool dreams?"

The two began talking about various dreams they had, the main one being a dream Soul once had involving mountains of pizza in a world where everyone was cool. Jaune rebutted with a dream he had where he had angel wings and flew around the whole of Vytal. Soul agreed with him, calling it "a really really cool dream."

While her two companions chatted about their dreams Ruby ate her food and looked around the cafeteria to see if there was anyone she hadn't seen yesterday. Aside from a boy with pink eyes and an orange-haired bundle of energy hounding him, there was none. She returned to listening to Soul and Jaune as Soul made his finishing statement about his dream.

"... and right before I woke up I realized that I was the King of Cool and all the world had finally knew that! Unfortunately, before I could celebrate, I woke up." He slumped down in disappointment when he had finished. As Jaune moved to comfort him and Ruby rolled her eyes, an announcement came over the intercom.

"Attention, attention. All first-year students, please make your way to the locker room to grab your equipment and then go to Beacon Cliffs. Thank you." The intercom shut off at that point.

"Well, that's our cue. Come on, Jaune, Ruby, let's go! Off we go, into the dark green woods, to search among the trees, to kill all them Grimm!" Soul sang as he stood up and started dragging Jaune off to the locker room, Ruby quietly following behind them.

Once they got there Jaune managed to escape the grasp of his eager red-eyed friend. He told them he was going to try to find his locker and said bye to them also. Ruby gave him a small nod while Soul grinned and waved, calling out "Bye!" as Jaune left. Soul turned to his quiet partner and smiled.

"He's nice, right, Rubes?"

"Hmm" was her response as she walked around and examined everyone's weapons. She didn't have a chance before because everyone but her had moved their weapons to their lockers shortly before bed the night before. She didn't because she never went anywhere without them close at hand, even in the center of the world-famous academy for training Hunters and Huntresses.

She saw Jaune off in the distance wandering around with a confused expression and a piece of paper in his hands. She shoke her head. _Oh Jaune_, she thought, _you can find a spot in an academy almost impossible to enter but you can't find your own locker that you visited yesterday? You are an odd one, Jaune._

"Hey, why are ya standing there staring at that blonde guy?" Ruby heard this from behind her and turned around. Facing her was the blonde girl named Yang that Soul was oogling yesterday and who had came to her in the ballroom as well. The girl had cocked her head at her, only to straighten up and smirk as she asked in a coy voice, "Is this why you weren't searching for cute boys yesterday? Because you already found one?"

Yang looked more closely in the direction of Jaune. She whistled. "Not bad, honey. I have seen a lot worse than him. Plus, he has that whole 'bumbling idiot' vibe going for him."

Before she could continue or Ruby could scare her off, Soul caught up to them. He had been distracted by several interesting weapons he saw and fell a bit behind Ruby. When he noticed Ruby in the distance with someone facing away from him, he ran to catch up.

"Aww, Rubes, why didn't you wait? I'm not that bad, am I? Oh, who are you talking to-" Soul began with a smirk, only to cut himself off. The reason for said cut-off was a sharp intake of breath when the girl turned around. She was the same girl from yesterday that he saw, save for the fact that up close she appeared even more beautiful than before. His jaw dropped, his headband almost slid right off his head, and a thick torrent of blood started pouring out of his nose.

"Errr, Ruby? Is he okay?" Yang asked in a concerned tone. She leaned in closer to the boy, who she could see had really sharp teeth for some reason (_perhaps he is a Faunus? But where is his ears or his tail?_), and waved her hand in front of his face to try to gain his attention. He wasn't moving at all, not even to blink, and she was being creeped out by that. When she waved her hand he didn't react at all, perhaps his condition even worsened for it seemed that the flow of blood from his nose only increased. At this rate the floor would soon be a lovely pink color from all the blood staining it.

_WHAM!_ Yang had blinked and when she had opened her eyes she saw the sharp-toothed boy on the ground and Ruby standing next to him without any expression on her face.

"He is fine." Ruby said as the boy climbed back up on his feet like he wasn't just knocked onto the ground. "He was just in a beauty-caused stupor."

"Oh." Yang muttered with a smile and a small blush. She was often told that she was beautiful but not to the level of causing a stupor before. She reached out her hand and the boy grabbed it, giving her a solid handshake. He gave her a sheepish grin.

"Hehe, cool guys don't go in beauty-caused stupors. They admire beautiful girls all the time." He said as he let go of Yang's hand and scratched the back of his head.

"Is that why your nose bled like a waterfall as you stood there blankly?" Ruby murmured to the Demon Weapon, causing him to sputter and wave his hands hurriedly.

"N-no, it wan't like that at all! It was just, uh... a rupture! Yes, a rupture! A blood vessel in my nose suddenly ruptured out of the blue, coincidentally at the same time as I saw her! It happened again just as she waved her hand in front of my face!" Soul attempted to explain to Ruby, completely forgetting about the fact that Yang was standing right there.

"Aww, so it wasn't my beauty that caused your nosebleed? And I was so flattered too..." Yang said in mock-disappointed tone as she wore a teasing grin. She didn't have a clue who this guy was but she wasn't going to let a prime opportunity for teasing slip by or her name wasn't Yang Xiao Long!

"What... I didn't mean... it was because of you... wait... no... what?" Soul stammered as he rapidly tried to amend his words. Then he stopped as he looked between the two girls in front of him, first at the impassive Ruby then at the grinning Yang. He sighed. "Not cool, girls. Not cool."

_PHING!_ Any possible rebuttal from the girls was cut off due to the loud sound of a long metal object whizzing through the air. The three took a quick glance, only to see Jaune pinned against a wall by a gold and red spear. Seeing the same snnoying heiress from yesterday and a girl whose outfit seemed to be colored just like the spear, Soul began chuckling.

"Guess Jaune was right after all, ladies really do love the name!" Soul said between chuckles as a voice suddenly began speaking from the overhead intercom.

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon cliff immediately." The familiar voice of Glynda Goodwitch echoed through the locker room before the intercom shut off and all of the students began making their way to the door.

"Well, guess that's our cue, Rubes. Let's go. See you later...?" Soul began as he started walking off, Ruby following closely behind with her hood up.

"Yang. The name's Yang Xiao Long. Nice to meet you." Yang responded with a small chuckle. Soul gave her a grateful grin as he moved closer to the pinned wannabe-knight.

"My name's Soul. See ya later, Yang." He replied as he walked off. Yang gave him one last wave right before they were too far away to see her well. This may have been her imagination but she could have almost sworn that she saw some blood dripping down Soul's nose again. She began chuckling again as she walked towards a different exit then the one the other two were going to.

"Hehe, that's one funny dude. I wouldn't mind messing with him again. Between him and Ruby, I'm sure these next four years won't be boring." She thought to herself as she exited the locker room, ready to face whatever challenges initiation. She was sure she could handle anything that they threw at her. She was Yang Xiao Long, after all.

(Meanwhile, back at the dynamic duo)

After the heiress and the spear's color-matching girl said a few words to Jaune and left him lying against the wall, Soul and Ruby approached the downtrodden boy, Ruby with her usual emotionless face and Soul with an amused smirk.

"So, Jaune, they dug the name, right?" Soul asked him as he reached down and pulled up the blonde boy. Jaune merely gave him the 'really?' look in response. Soul laughed when he saw Jaune's expression.

"Don't worry, they'll come around. Come on, stand up." Once Jaune managed to reach his feet, Soul steadied him and then let go of his hand, leaving Jaune to stumble around for a moment before he regained his balance.

"I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?" Jaune lamented to the two. Soul gave him a grin full of hidden laughter and Ruby just stood there, looking bored underneath her cloak.

"I think you went wrong when you listened to your dad of all people for dating advice." Soul told him, still grinning all the while. "Let's get a second opinion on this. Hey, Rubes?" He turned to his mainly red-wearing companion as he asked her opinion. "What do you think of that?"

Ruby stared into Soul's dark red orbs then took a glance at Jaune's curious blue ones. She turned herself away from the two boys before muttering her response.

"Idiotic." Soul burst out laughing as Jaune slumped down in defeat from the scythe-wielder's response.

"Oh man, that was good, Rubes. That was good." Soul had to literally wipe a tear from his eye as he finished laughing at Jaune's crestfallen expression. He patted the slumped boy's shoulders a few times in a doomed attempt to cheer him up. "It's okay, Jaune. It's okay, now you know not to listen to your dad for dating advice." Soul said as he finished with his 'pep' (he thought it was, at least) talk. He was about to say something else before he noticed Ruby gesturing towards the exit. He patted Jaune's shoulder one more time before he started walking towards the exit, Ruby falling into step next to him.

"Well, see ya eventually, Jaune. Good luck. Stay cool, okay?" Soul said, walking along briskly. Jaune looked up from his slumped position with a confused look at them.

"Wait, what? Where are you going, Soul?" Jaune asked with a cock of his head. Soul turned to face him and shrugged, still walking all the while.

"Like I said yesterday, I'm only visiting. It's time for me to head out." Soul said just as they reached the door. He turned away from Jaune, throwing him one last wave over his shoulder. "Bye. Never forget the deliciousness of pizza!" Then both he and Ruby left the locker room, leaving Jaune standing there alone.

"There goes my only friend here..." Jaune murmured to himself as he looked around the room. Suddenly he jumped as he seemed to remember something. "Oh dang, initiation! I'm going to be late! Wait up!" He yelled as he bolted out of the room at top speed.

* * *

"For years, you have trained to become warriors and today your abilities will b evaluted in the Emerald Forest." Professor Ozpin stood there, facing the row of potential Hunters and Huntresses with Professor Goodwitch at his side. He took a sip from his ever-present coffee mug as Professor Goodwitch picked up the speech.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, let us put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be assigned teams... today." She said, causing a small murmuring to break out among the students. Only one remained quiet, choosing instead to comment inside her head.

_Really? I thought we get them after we finished training, _she thought to herself sarcastically. Before she could continue, she was interrupted by the one person who does so on a regular basis.

"Man, it's cool you get them today. Wonder how they choose them?" Soul whispered in her ear. Wasn't that hard, really, considering that the blade of the scythe hangs dangerously close to one of them.

"Quiet, Soul." Ruby whispered back to the scythe blade, looking like a crazy person to anyone looking at her right then. "They'll probably tell us in a moment."

After leaving Jaune behind to talk to himself in the locker room, Ruby and Soul went to a clearing in the forest next to the cliffs. A flash of light and a _thump _later, Ruby left the clearing richer one scythe and poorer one Soul. (**Oh, the puns. They never stop.**)

Now they were standing (well, hanging, in Soul's case) there in the row of initiates, waiting next to a nervous-looking Jaune. They couldn't wait for the speech to stop. For Soul it was because he couldn't wait to whoop some Grimm a*s and Ruby because, well, she just didn't like listening to speeches. Either way, they still had to wait for the two professors to stop talking before they could go. On that note...

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon." _Sip._ Looks like Professor Ozpin has retaken the narrative currently. "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well with."

Ruby remained silent as the headmaster continued talking. She already had Soul, everyone else was secondary. She would only take a partner just so no one would complain about her not having one.

"That being said, the first person you make eye-contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." It seemed that he was prepared for the scattered protests, for he just ignored them. Ruby just silently raised an eyebrow at the man's announcement.

_He tells us to pair up with someone that we can work well with then goes around and says that the first person we make eye-contact with will be our partner for the next four years?_ She mused silently as someone went "See, I told you!" in the background. _That didn't seem well-planned._

"Hey, Rubes, did that make any sense to you? It didn't make any for me." Apparently Soul agreed with her unspoken thoughts, based on his question. Ruby gave him a minscule, almost nonexistent, shrug in response.

"After you partnered up," continued the grey-haired headmaster, "head to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die."

"Awww h*ll yeah!" Out of nowhere came the shout, causing everyone save one red-cloaked figure to look around in confusion. The red-cloaked figure, however, merely reached a hand behind her and whacked her scythe hard.

"Soul..." she muttered with the barest infliction of anger lurking within, making the scythe gulp (exactly where does a scythe gulp even?) in response. "I thought I told you not to draw attention to yourself..."

"I couldn't resist, knowing that now you had no reason to hold back! How could I not shout for that?" Soul tried to rebut to his annoyed meister, his only response silence. The grey part of the scythe suddenly turned white, as if the weapon itself was actually paling. He knew the silence was not good. If Ruby did not respond to him, it meant bad things for him, very bad things. Fortunately, his rescue came in the form of Ozpin suddenly breaking the silence.

"Anyways..." he started, shaking his head a few times to get himself back on track, "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of the initiation but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are they any questions?"

Jaune whispered to her, "Good luck", before raising his hand and beginning to ask, "Yeah, um, sir?" She ignored the blonde boy completely and instead bent her legs into a crouch, ready for battle. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the heiress glaring at her from down the row with hatred but, like most things, she again ignored her.

"You ready, Rubes? What am I saying, of course you are." Soul said with a bit of pride. Ruby didn't respond, only bent lower as students started getting launched off into the sky, her turn coming closer and closer. Then she was off, the last thing she heard was Jaune going, "So, what exactly is a landing strategYYY?!"

She scoffed as she whistled through the air, the wind whipping her cloak everywhere. _And there goes another of Soul's friends._

"Ahh, everything looks so cool from up here, eh, Rubes?" Now that they were away from everyone else, Soul began talking a bit more loudly than before. For once, Ruby had to agree. It was a great view.

"Yes, it is very... 'cool', up here, Soul." She told the Demon Weapon as they flew past an excited Yang. She was 'whooping' and yelling happily, uncaring of who heard her. She noticed Ruby moments later and gave her a little wave before she started firing her gauntlets, crashing through the trees and making a rolling landing. Ruby rolled her eyes as she noticed the flecks of blood streaming behind her while she continued flying.

"You really need to stop getting a nose bleed every time you see that girl, Soul." Ruby said as they continued flying, ignoring the arising protests from the living weapon.

"Ehh... okay, the coolness is gone. Can we land know, Ruby?" Soul asked Ruby a minute or so later as they whisked past yet another tree. Ruby's response was to draw out her pistols and begin firing as they started descending into the trees. Leaves and branches filled the air, some connected to the trees and some not.

A particularly large one flew up in front of them, causing Ruby to react. She sheathed her pistols and drew out Soul, swinging him like a windmill except that the blade was swinging towards her. Once she drew close to the branch, the underside of the scythe blade latching onto the branch and swinging _her_ like a human windmill. She swung up and down, over and over again, covering a few meters until she suddenly swung the blade away from the branch. The momentum threw her headfirst to the ground at an extreme speed. Almost at the point of no return, she swung her feet to the ground and bent her knees. _SLAM!_ She hit the ground with the force of an elephant, cracking the ground and making a crater a meter wide. Soul was in her hand, the blade facing towards her back, and her other hand was on the grip of _Rose Petals,_ ready to react to any sudden movements. Between the crater, her stance, and the fact that her hood fell over her eyes and hid them from view, the only thing Soul could say was...

"That was so flipping cool, Ruby. So...flipping...cool." Soul's voice caused Ruby to straighten up, dust herself off, and walk out of the crater. If Soul was talking, that meant that there was no immediate danger. She pulled her hood a little lower and moved a few broken branches out of her way before she moved off into the forest to go get a relic and, perhaps, a partner. She saw the temple while in the air so she knew where to get a relic but a partner? That's going to require some luck.

"So...bored...nothing...cool...around..." Soul groaned out as Ruby trudged through the forest. For the past twenty minutes there had been nothing but trees and shrubs around them, causing Soul to go a little stir-crazy. "Can't you do something cool like slashing a lot trees at once or something, Ruby?"

"Soul," Ruby began, eyes constantly flicking back and forth, looking for threats, "the whole point of not drawing attention to us is to not do things such as 'slashing a lot of trees at once or something'. Remember that."

"Alright, alright," Soul muttered as he continued hanging off of Ruby's back, "Sometimes you really are so uncool, Rubes. But that's why I'm your partner! To be the coolness to your uncoolness!"

"Quiet, Soul." Ruby suddenly said, right before Soul could start rambling about their collective coolness. They had just reached a small clearing with small boulders littering its edges, the forest thinning around it.

"What? I think it makes perfect sense. I mean, you say and do uncool stuff a lot, I do and say cool stuff a lot, it all fits together-" Soul started to say before Ruby cut him off.

"I'm not talking about your random theory about our coolness balancing out, Soul, I'm talking about that noise I just heard," Ruby muttered as she continued scanning the clearing for the noise's origin. Soul quieted once he knew why Ruby told him to be quiet and started looking around the clearing as well.

For a few moments, nothing happened save that a few leaves were blown around. Then appearing out of nowhere, almost like magic, a Beowolf came rushing at them, snarling and slashing out with its claws.

Ruby reacted just as fast, jumping into the air as the Beowolf charged underneath her. She drew out _Rose Thorns_ and started firing, cracking a few spikes on its back but otherwise not doing very much damage to the Grimm. She landed in a crouch as the Grimm stopped running and turned around to face her, still snarling and growling all the while.

"Cool, our first Grimm. Make sure this a cool fight to remember, okay, Ruby?" Soul said as she pulled him out. She didn't respond as she dashed towards the Grimm in a semblance-fueled rush. She slashed at it but it jumped back as she did so, only catching a light scratch to the mask in the process. The Grimm tried to rake her with its claws but she ducked under the strike as she grabbed _Rose Thorns_ again and put a few rounds into its stomach.

The Beowolf roared as it hunched over from the pain, giving Ruby enough time to do an upwards slice while it was distracted. However, the Beowulf jumped back again to avoid the blow. Immediately afterwards it lunged back forward, jaws wide open to chomp down on her flesh. Instead of warm soft flesh, it ate cold hard lead as Ruby pulled out both of her pistols and started stuffing its throat full of bullets. The Beowolf could only gargle and stumble at the sudden influx of metal into its body, leaving it wide open for a second as it tried to recover. That one second was all Ruby needed to finish it off.

She windmilled Soul just like earlier, catching one of the wolfish creature's arm on an upwards swing and cut it straight off from its torso. She switched the still-spinning scythe to her other hand to dearm (literally) the Grimm's other side. The scythe's swinging then went from vertical to horizontal as she lifted it above her head as she spun one another time, still windmilling all the while. The blade turned in the air and before the Grimm could let out a final growl its head was chopped straight off, flying into the air just like its fellow detached body parts. She didn't stop spinning quite yet, instead performing one more twirl before attempting to stab the monster with the butt of the scythe. The end sunk into its flesh for a moment before it bursted through its other side, sending chunks of dark flesh and black fur flying into the air. She stood there, half of the length of the entire scythe still sunken into the Beowolf's torso, as the sounds of _thump, thump, thump _came from behind her, showing that its arms and its head have finally hit the ground. Only then did she remove Soul from still-standing Beowolf corpse and hung him back on her back. The rest of the Grimm's body stood there for another moment, as if processing the loss of its head and various limbs, before falling to its knees and crumpling to the ground with one final _thump_ echoing in the air. The entire fight took less than ten seconds.

"Soul, was that 'cool' enough for you?" Ruby asked quietly as she observed some type of black energy leak off of the dead Grimm's body. She kept watching and listening to the forest around them as Soul excitedly answered her.

"H*ll yeah that was cool enough! The way you blasted its throat full of bullets and then cut off its arms and head was flipping awesome!" Ruby didn't react to Soul as he kept going on and on about the fight, ranting about that 'st*pid Grimm didn't knew what hit it!' and the such, she just kept paying attention to her surroundings to make sure nothing snuck up on them. It paid off as she heard some growls came from the bushes across the clearing and saw several pairs of red eyes peer out of them.

"Soul, do you wish that fight was longer?" Ruby asked without any change of infliction in her tone as she slowly started reaching back to grab the scythe again.

"You know I do!" Soul practically shouted at her.

She pulled him out and took a two-handed grip as at least ten more Beowolves charged into the clearing, growling ferally as they started surrounding her. Ruby crouched a little, taking only more one moment to say "Here you go then, Soul," before vanishing into a swirl of rose petals.

* * *

Deep underground somewhere far between the four kingdoms, a figure stirred.

The cavern had no light, absolutely none at all, the place so dark one couldn't even see the end of their own nose. Yet, somehow, the figure could be _seen_ rising onto its feet, as if it was darker than the surrounding darkness itself. When the figure rose to its feet, the cavern, a large space absolutely coated in stalagmites and stalactites, shuddered and rumbled, bits of rock and debris falling unseen from the ceiling. Suddenly, the figure spoke.

"Ahh, finally." Its voice was deep and gutteral, yet possessed a slight hint of sophistication. "It has been far too long since the last one." The figure, appearing humanoid in shape, stretched its hands above its head before lowering them back to its sides. "A Rose has finally begun to bloom once more."

It began walking away from where it had laid before, winding between stalagmites that reached over halfway towards the ceiling, somehow not running into a single one despite the complete darkness surrounding it. It went to the back of the cavern where there weren't any stalagmites and reached out into the air, seemingly petting something.

"Hello, my pet. It has been a long time, hasn't it?" It murmured as it continued stroking in the darkness. A loud grumble echoed off the walls as whatever the figure was stroking responded to the touch. The figure didn't react other than to start stroking it a little faster. Eventually the unknown creature stopped grumbling as the figure began speaking again.

"Yes, yes, I know, it's been far too long. Don't worry, I think we are going to be around for a while this time." Again a grumble rang out, this one having a happier sound than before. "I require one of your children for a task. Just a little test to make sure the Rose is ready to start blossoming."

One last grumble, this time sounding like it was agreeing, sounded out into the air, causing the figure to grin. This grin was full of large white teeth, ones that looked capable of tearing flesh and bone, ones that looked like they belonged to a Grimm, ones that shouldn't in any possible way belong to a humanoid figure.

"Excellent," the dark figure said as a loud rumbling noise filled the cavern and caused a few stalactites to fall to the ground. The figure turned around and lifted its head to the ceiling, like it was trying to see through the miles of rock above them to the surface, before it spoke one last time.

"Let's see if this Rose will bloom or if it wilt down to nothing."

* * *

_Phish!_ All that could be seen for one moment was a flash of white and red, the next had a Beowolf falling to the ground as its head and a arm slid right off its body like butter.

The other Beowolves stopped moving when they saw one of their packmates fall to the ground out of nowhere, the red-colored prey nowhere to be found. One particular Beowolf, a higher-up in the pack hierarchy, lowered its muzzle to the ground and began sniffing as the others remained where they were, trying to catch the scent of the prey again. The scent was... was... all over itself?

It tried to stand straight back up again, only to realize it somehow lost all feeling in its back and legs, instead it simply slumped all the way back to the ground. It felt only pain in its body, darkness was starting to crowd its vision, and the last thing it saw was its packmates starting to surround something coated in red. Then everything was black.

"Two down, around fifteen to go," Soul said as the painted eye on the scythe looked at the fallen Beowolf with many large cuts coating its back and legs a few feet behind them. Ruby didn't reply, only tightened her grip on the scythe as the group of wolfish monsters surrounded her, crowding her in between all of them. The girl in red and the monsters coated in black stared at each other for a minute, each waiting for the other to make the first move. A leaf fell in the background, inciting a Beowolf to try a strike at the silent girl facing them.

Ruby didn't move as the clawed paw came closer and closer to her. She waited, and waited, and waited, and... now! She flipped the scythe in a circle, causing the shaft to come up and whack the claws away from her as she gripped _Rose Petals_ in her hand and fired several shots point blank into the bone-white mask in front of her. The demonic mask began splintering and cracking as each shot pounded into the last before it had time to settle, increasing the penetration of the bullets tenfold. With a loud '_crack!', _the mask shattered, making the Beowolf desperately raise its paws and try to hold the mask pieces onto its face, giving Ruby the opportunity to swing Soul and bisect the creature.

"Ruby, at your six o'clock!" Came the shout from the human weapon as Ruby stepped back from the collapsing halves of the Beowolf. Instantly she spun and slashed simultaneously, catching another Grimm in the act of trying to bite her. The bite fell flat, just like its lower jaw after the slash. The Beowolf began gurgling as its tongue started hanging out over its chest, claws clutching at its ruined mouth. Ruby came in closer and jabbed her pistol into the cavity left by the absence of its jaw. She fired once, sending a bullet into its brain and killing it instantly.

Without another moment's waste, she grabbed the body and dropped, using her downwards notion to throw the jawless corpse into three Beowolves that were trying to sneak up on her. The body slammed into them, sending the quartet crashing into the ground. Ruby finished sliding back onto her feet, one massive slash later and she added three more Beowolves to the body count. She stood and faced the remaining nine who, by now, were admittingly a little more hesitant to attack her.

"Alright... let's finish them." Ruby nodded at her partner's statement as she lifted her scythe back, as if preparing for one massive strike. The Beowolves stopped and cocked their head at the sight. They were at least ten feet away from her, how could the strike hit?

It could hit if the scythe was thrown like a discus, that's how. Like the great Minstral champions of old, she threw the over-sized harvesting tool perfectly. It was like a spinning wheel of death **(Wow, that was so cliche)** as it went flying at the Beowolves, leaving them no time to run away or attempt to dodge. Not that they would have anyway, the combination of the spinning and twirling colors of grey, red, and black hypnotized them into a state of docile stupor. They could only watch as the scythe came slashing into them, causing the air to be filled with flying body parts and wisps of black energy. The scythe only stopped spinning after it annihilated the group of Grimm and crashed blade-first into a tree trunk, quivering for a second from the impact before it just stuck there.

"Ruby, behind you!" Soul shouted, his voice sounding all warbly due to the last remaining quivers of the impact. She turned and saw three more Beowolves, probably the omegas that waited in the shadows while the others were hunting, rushing at her, claws extended. There was no time to pull out either _Rose Petals_ or _Rose Thorns_, even if there was she couldn't shoot all three of them before they fell upon her. She had only one option left. She didn't want to reveal her trump card so early into her time at Beacon but it was that or some pretty bad injuries.

She quickly reached a hand behind her back, this time past where Soul usually hangs out **(Hehe, get it?)**, instead grabbing at a sheath that laid almost always hidden underneath her red cloak, barely visible against the whitish-lining. She wrapped her hand around the hilt of the sword in the black sheathe with a line of red dots going down it **(Sound familiar? I mentioned it once before)** before pulling it out just as the first Beowolf reached her and slashed at her with its claws.

It was an ordinary sword, really, almost completely normal except for its color scheme and a hole in its crossguard. The hilt and crossguard was of a whitish-grey, somewhere between the gray of Soul's scythe shaft and her hood's inner lining. In the center of its crossguard, shortly before the blade extended out of it, was an irregularly-shaped hole that seemed to hold no purpose. It was orignally meant to hold Dust crystals but none could fit in it, causing it to become just an unusual asthetic feature. The blade itself had a black stripe running straight through its middle, dividing the otherwise dark red blade in half. It was named _Blood Rose_ **(Unoriginal, yes. Gets the job done, yes) **and the reason Ruby forged it was for the purpose of being a trump card when her enemies thought she was weaponless or when her other weapons couldn't be used for one reason or the other. Despite being a backup weapon, it was forged just as well as any other person's main weapon and was just as, if not more, deadly than one as well. A fact that she was going to put into good use.

She swung the sword, chopping off the arm moments before the claws could reach her and rake her flesh. The arm went in one direction as the sword went in the other, finishing its lethal arc before it suddenly lunged forward, stabbing the Beowolf in the stomach. Pulling the blade out of the Beowolf's destroyed stomach, Ruby shoved the rapidly-limpening Beowolf away as she ducked beneath a swipe from another. She side-stepped another swipe coming from one side then a swipe from the other. She did this a few times before suddenly stepping forward. One of the Beowolves was suprised by this if the sloppy stike coming afterwards meant anything. Ruby didn't side-step this one, instead she ducked as it came very close to digging into her face. The sloppy and wild swipe went over her as the Beowolf became unbalanced. It couldn't stop the swipe in time to avoid digging its claws finger-deep into its fellow Beowolf's throat. The Beowolf who had its throat done in by his packmate went limp, still alive but just barely. The one who swiped orignally tried to remove its claws from its packmate's throat tissue but failed miserably, reduced to standing there as it desperately yanked at its claws. So focused in its task, it forgot about the one who it originally was trying to swipe in the first place.

After taking a moment to observe her enemy's rather foolish behavior, Ruby walked forward, _Blood Rose _gripped in her right hand, up to the Beowulf still on its feet. It barely even had the time to look at her before she began hacking and slashing at it, so fast it was she was just a blur and without stopping for a moment's rest. She only stopped when the Beowulf appeared more red than black, still standing solely beacuse of the weight on its claw. She glanced at the fallen Beowolf who was just barely clinging to life. As she bent down towards it, it tried to attack her with its claws and bite at her but the most it could do was a soft growl as she lifted _Blood Rose_ above its head. Then, just like that, the Beowulf stopped growling, exactly like how it stopped doing everything else.

Standing up from the newly-made Beowolf corpse, Ruby took a moment to sheathe her sword and to look around the clearing. Claws and jaws littered the ground as well as various other Beowolf parts, interspersed with bullet shells and slash marks from the fight. After the initial look, she ignored the destroyed clearing as she strode over to the trunk where Soul still stuck, the occasional quiver still going through his body.

"Ni-nice, Rubes," He said as Ruby pulled him out of the trunk, his voice occasionally hitching by a quiver ringing across his blade, "Tha-that was pr-pretty c-cool. It's c-cool enough for a f-first fight against th-the Grimm, that's for s-sure."

"Hmm," Ruby murmured as she walked off into the forest towards the temple, leaving behind the clearing to be picked apart by the forest's scavengers.

* * *

"That was... rather brutal." Professor Goodwitch as she watched Ruby walk off into the forest on her Scroll.

Professor Ozpin, on the other hand, just took a sip of his coffee as he watched the same thing on his Scroll. "Is it? Are you suprised, Glynda?"

"Are you serious, Ozpin? She cut off a Grimm's jaw then blew its brains out without a second thought!" Professor Goodwitch tried to reason with him as they looked over the Emerald Forest lying before them. "Doesn't that seem the least bit brutal to you?"

Professor Ozpin just gave her a deadpan look. "Glynda, it may seem like that to you, to a student, or to maybe even me, but to her it was just defeating the Grimm, nothing more, nothing less."

"But Ozpin..." Glynda said, only to be cut off by a raise of his hand.

"Remember how she was during her interview?" At that Glynda gave a nod. "How she sounded cynical and maybe even a bit rude to us? To her, she just answering our questions. Same thing here." He turned away from her and resumed staring out over the forest, Glynda joining him after a moment's hesitation. He took another a sip of his coffee before he continued. "Let what will be, be. She may one day change how she fights and lives... or maybe she won't. We will just have to live with it in the process."

"Well, if that's how is..." Glynda mumbled grudgingly. She looked annoyed for a moment before she regained her professional air. "I'm curious about that black energy coming off the Grimm she defeated, though." She lifted up her scroll, showing a picture of said energy hanging in the air as Ruby walked by it. "I have never seen that happen before, neither in the inititations nor my own years as a Huntress. Do you have any idea?" Her only answer was silence. "Professor Ozpin?"

He merely stood on the edge of the cliff, cane and mug in hand and his eyes never left the treetops. Glynda rolled her eyes and sighed at the headmaster's antics before returning to watching the initiation on her Scroll. Only once he was sure she was absorbed in her Scroll once more did Ozpin whisper to himself.

"The Aura... the disappearing and reappearing scythe... and now that energy... it seems to be all adding up. The possibility of a Demon Weapon just keeps growing higher and higher. The question is, what does she plan to do with it?"

"Oh, Professor Ozpin," He was shaken out of his private musings by Glynda speaking up once more.

"Yes?"

"How much longer do you think it will be until that girl gets a partner?"

"Hmmm..." He quickly pulled out his Scroll and started pulling up some folders. After a minute of searching and tapping, he opened one particular folder showing a real-time map of the forest. He peered closely at it before he suddenly burst out laughing. Glynda's eyes widened in suprise for a moment before she narrowed them extremely.

"Professor Ozpin..." She muttered as she began slapping her riding crop against her hand, "What exactly are you laughing it?"

"Ohh..." Professor Ozpin had to bend down for a moment and let out a last few chuckles before he could stand up straight and answer. "It's just that I think I know who her partner is going to be. Let's just say that it will be a... 'special' partnership."

* * *

Ruby was walking along the forest for a while, Soul hanging on her back, and still found no sign of either the temple or a partner. It was so long, in fact, that Soul decided to start speaking up again.

"So... who do you think our other partner will be?" He asked his silent companion. Ruby gave him a tiny shrug but otherwise didn't answer as she continued walking in search of the temple.

"I kinda hope it's Jaune. He seems like a cool guy." Soul told her. Ruby's response suggested that she didn't particularly agree with the idea.

"You say that just because he like pizza."

"What?! No! Of course not!" The scythe almost began to shake with the passion he infused into his words. Ruby's words, on the other hand, was about as passionate as drying paint.

"Then why do you want Jaune as a partner?"

"Because... he's... uh... well..." Soul stammered, trying to think of something in Jaune's defense. He drew a blank, however, so he changed his choice.

"Okay, fine, how about Yang?"

"Considering that everytime you see her your nose bleeds, no."

"Oh come on! It so does not."

"It's bleeding right now."

"Dang it!"

After spending a few minutes trying to staunch the flow of blood from his nose, Soul added in one final contribution. "As long as it isn't that annoying ice heiress, anyone is fine. Right, Rubes?" She remained silent but Soul got the feeling that she quietly agreed.

"Yeah, that would be horrible. Imagine if we ran into her around this corner, that would stink. Good thing that'll never happ-" Soul started saying before Ruby began going around a tree and running into something. She only swayed slightly as the other person went crashing into the ground. Upon looking down, the two saw a pale girl all dressed in white and very light blue on the ground rubbing her bottom with her eyes closed. Suddenly she opened them and started glancing around quickly, obviously trying to find out what hit her. Then she looked up, blue eyes meeting dulled silver ones. There was only one thing Soul could silently whisper at that moment.

"I really need to shut my mouth sometimes."

* * *

**Yeah, I'm finally done! Chapter 3 of The Soul Ruby has finally been published! Woo! Sorry to make you all wait! I just want to give a few quick shout outs before you all head out if that's okay.**

**First, thank you FlamingGinger06 for beta-ing this again. Thank you very much for reading my possibly-horrible writing beforehand and giving me your feedback! Thanks!**

**Second, thank you rwbybomb21 for being so concerned about this chapter's release and for tossing around some ideas with me! In that vein of thought, the Blake scene, the landing strategy, and a few other tidbits all originally came from him so thank you!**

**Finally, a quick mention of Hazzamo for asking about this chapter as well. Thank you! **

**Well, that's it for now. Next time you'll see Weiss's reaction to her new 'partner', answers to a few questions including the black energy and what 'children' was being talked about, and... some other stuff. I guess that's it. Actually, wait. As a mini-apology and because I feel like it, I will try my hand at writing an omake. I hope that it's somewhat decent and that you all like it. Enjoy (or not. It is my first omake, after all).**

* * *

**Omake: This is Halloween**

**P.S. Insert Copyright legal stuff here. Basically, the song's not mine.**

Ruby bolted up in bed suddenly, eyes glancing all around as she looked around the room. Then she relaxed a mere miniscule bit as she recognized her room in the apartment. It was the middle of the night and shadows covered the whole room, the only source of light was the moonlight streaming in the window. Everything was quiet.

After a few more glances just to be sure it was safe, Ruby started to get out of bed to get a drink of water, only to freeze and draw her pistols, barrels aimed at the darkness as a loud sound started echoing across the room. She waited for something to move for a seconds, vaguely hearing the noise in the background. When nothing made so much as a twitch, she started paying attention to what she was hearing. Then it clicked.

The song 'This is Halloween' was playing somewhere nearby.

Her facial expression didn't change as she resheathed her pistols and listened to the music. Soul must be listening to loud music again. He never leaves it alone. Why this song, though?

"It's our town, everybody scream, in this town of Halloween." The latest words bounced of the walls of the dark room as Ruby listened. It sounded so close. It's a miracle Soul had any hearing drums left after listening to such loud music.

"I am the one hiding under your bed." What? Since when has a low rasping sung this song? _Smack!_ Suddenly, a shadowy hand clasped the edge of her bed, causing her to bolt back towards the wall as a figure shrouded in darkness started rising up from under her bed.

"Teeth ground sharp..." The voice sang as the... the... _thing_ leaned closer, mouth stretching into a grin of lunacy and madness full of sharp teeth, a seemingly-clawed hand coming towards her.

"And eyes glowing red!" It yelled as suddenly two bloody red orbs appeared, seemingly floating in the darkness.

For a moment, Ruby just sat and stared at the mysterious figure as it stared back at her. Then, with a sigh, the figure reached over its other hand to a nearby lamp, flicking it on and showering the room with light. The figure groaned as it reached up a now-normal hand to move some white hair away from his eyes.

"Dang it, Rubes, can't you let me pull off a cool joke for once?! Do you know how long I waited under your bed (**Wow, that sounded creepy)** for this one moment?!" Soul asked her in disappointment as she continued to stare at him with her blank expression. A few seconds later...

_Wham! _

"Ow ow ow!" Soul cried out as he rolled on the floor, Ruby walking past him towards the door. "Come on, Rubes, that was good and you know it!"

His only answer was a loud _slam!_

* * *

**Okay, that was a lot better in my head. I'm a little disappointed with myself right now. Anyways, that's all, folks! Bye! Have a good one!**


End file.
